Our Collection of Leadership "Reads"

Thank you for visiting the ISU Ed. Leadershop.  For a handful of years, we have collected and catalogued great articles (five-minute "reads") from current and former educational leaders, with the intent that they would be helpful and interesting to leaders and their teams.  We hope you will browse our collection and enjoy what we have to offer.  Please do not hesitate to let us know what you think of our articles, by contacting us at ryan.donlan@indstate.edu.  Again, we appreciate your visiting, and YOU, for all you do.

What's Your Story?

What’s Your Story?

By Dr. E. Scott England

Principal

North Side Elementary School

Fairfield, Illinois

This past July I was fortunate enough to attend the inaugural Aspiring Superintendent Academy hosted by the Illinois Association for School Administrators (IASA).  Though 41 of the 42 participants hailed from Illinois, we did have one aspiring superintendent join us from Maryland.

Throughout the week-long academy, we got to experience what it is like running a school through the “big seat.”  Simulations, mock press conferences, and budgeting scenarios are just a few examples of our activities. 

The academy was run by two rock star superintendents who put the “Super” in superintendent.  Dr. Nick Polyak and Dr. Mike Lubelfeld exemplify what meaningful teaching and learning is all about.  Every activity they created involved hands-on, collaboration, and a short time frame to accomplish the activity.  In other words, creating a learning experience that best mirrors what real-life is like in education. 

They also brought in guest speakers every day.  Speakers ranged from superintendents from northern, central, and southern Illinois, superintendents from other states, the CEO from the EdTechTeam, and even a state representative.  We did legal scenarios with the help of lawyers from a law firm specializing in education law.  Yet, even with all the activities and guests, one thing I took away from my amazing week in Springfield was this: Everyone has a story.

At first glance, one might brush it aside as if everyone already knows this. 

“Of course we have a story, big deal.” 

Oh but it is so much more than that though.  Our story has directed our career to where we are now.  Or is forming the path for where we want to go in the future. 

Think about a biography you have read on someone famous.  Any biography would illustrate my point, but for sake of having an example, I’m going to select Open: An Autobiography about renowned tennis player Andre Agassi. 

Just hearing his name, most could make the argument that he was one of the greatest male tennis players in history.  But as Agassi tells his story, you begin to see a deeper picture of a man who struggled with fame, was often unhappy off the court, and became so depressed that he resorted to drugs just to fight the inner demons. 

You also read of how he overcame these low points in his career to build the name that we all know.  How he overcame a failed first marriage to find solace with his wife of now 15 years, former tennis player Steffi Graf. 

What you find in Open is Agassi’s story. 

And we all have one.

I am not just a principal. 

I was a student who struggled in high school and was recommended not to look toward the college path.  A student who completed his Associate’s at an area community college, but couldn’t find success at a four-year university. 

A student who began to believe that some of the folks at his high school were right.

I was a factory worker who experienced what long hours really were.  A worker who was almost happy but felt a void.  A person who knew more was out there.

I was a man who found his wife; who started a family; who began to watch his son grow.  I was a former college student who wanted to be a high school English teacher, but now someone who thought maybe, just maybe, that elementary teaching was his calling.

I was an untraditional college student, returning after taking close to seven years off.  But now a student who was finding successes in his studies. 

I was a student teacher that had the unbelievable opportunity of having my own first grade teacher as my cooperating teacher.  The same teacher that made me want to go into teaching in the first place.

I took over my first classroom two days after I completed student teaching (which in and of itself is remarkable that a school would go through so much trouble to even hire me like that). 

I eventually became a first grade teacher in my home district.  Taking over the classroom that I not only student taught in, but remember who occupied the room before me?  That’s right.  I took over for my teaching idol. 

While teaching first grade, I completed my Master’s, my Specialist’s, and became A.B.D. in my doctoral program.

I also missed out on what I thought was my dream job. 

Turns out, the best thing that could have ever happened to me was being turned down for that job.  Because that is how my family and I found our new town and new school district. 

And that’s where my story has brought me today.  Sitting behind a principal’s desk overseeing a phenomenal faculty and staff.  My diploma proudly displaying my Ph.D. on the wall.  A long way removed from that lackadaisical high school student who was told college may not be my cup of tea. 

As it turns out, maybe I just needed the help of different co-authors.  Dr. Polyak and Dr. Lubelfeld served as co-authors to my story for one week back in July.  They taught me to look for my story.

______________________________________________________

Dr. Scott England is an amazing school leader whose humility outdistances his incredible intelligence and contribution.  We at the Leadershop recommend your getting to know him well.  If you would like to talk further, please feel free to contact Dr. England at [sengland@fairfieldcolts.com].

Treasure Hunt

Treasure Hunt

By Dr. Donovan Garletts

Principal

Notre Dame Catholic School

Michigan City, Indiana

As educators it is our duty to seek out empirical data to drive the decision-making process. As an academic authoring this piece, the same responsibility is present, but the foundation here is meant to drive thinking, encourage research, and to plant the seed, per se. 

It is vital you understand this distinction as a reader before you proceed. Let this serve as a disclaimer – that I neither support nor reject the information contained herein, but rather wish to share as a mini “think tank.”  

Over the last several decades, the States have been inundated with Federal Education Reform and corresponding mandates. The power and authority of individual, state-level Departments of Education have been stripped in a sense. Much of the decision-making is done for the states through Federal intervention at an unprecedented level.

Be it assessment, curriculum, programs, or a variety of other instances, the Federal government has tried to unify America’s educational system in a way that has not necessarily worked out. The most recent intervention, the reauthorization of ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act) under the new name of ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act), has supplanted NCLB (No Child Left Behind), but we are yet to see the results because of the nature of its infancy.

That said, we have slowly seen our country fall behind other countries in various assessed subjects, and it has been noted we are no longer producing our own “world-renowned” physicists, scientists, doctors, etc., but rather hiring them from abroad.

All of this leads us to scratch our heads in an attempt to answer the lingering question of “Why?”

Perhaps the most talked about (and controversial) areas of education as of late are curriculum (Common Core State Standards), development of the whole child (Rigorous Homework vs. Family Time), and technology (1-to-1 Technology, Learning Management Systems, etc.).

Below are summaries of informative, yet provocative, articles that I hope will start an extended conversation at the building level. The articles in full are cited below for your viewing pleasure. We must continually evolve, transform, and engage in the teaching and learning process.

Enjoy!

The Educational System of Finland

Finland has long been touted as one of the top educational systems in the world. The basic philosophy is to let children be children and learn through play, exploration, and the inquisitive nature of young minds.

No formal school starts until age seven and proceeds until the equivalent of our ninth grade. Upon the successful completion of the nine obligatory years, students and families have the choice to attend traditional secondary for three years (university prep), vocational school, or enter the workforce.

During the formal primary and intermediate educational years, most students do not start school until 9:00 a.m., citing consistent research on pupils and sleep needs, and end before 3:00 p.m. The short school day is intended to allow more preparation time for teachers outside of the normal school day, while intensifying the day for students.

Finnish students rarely receive homework, and neither students nor instructors are subjected to the same high-stakes testing we see in America. Testing certainly still exists, but it does not carry the same power of persuasion as it does here with regard to student achievement, funding, and jobs.

To put simply, Finland goes against the grain when speaking of education with a truly less-as-more attitude.

Dinner or Homework?

If you have Internet access you have likely seen the “New Homework Policy” note that has gone viral.

The idea is becoming an unavoidable conversation between parents and educators, but it is not new. In fact, entire school districts have gone to a no homework policy as early as 2014.

What is driving this relatively innovative education idea?

Could it be a domino effect of high-stakes testing? One that creates instructors so concerned about tests they inundate students with enough daily work to last them a month then parents become so fed up with the amount of homework their children are assigned they search for a “better way?”

Proponents of the no homework philosophy cite “mounds” of research that point to no quantifiable improvement of student achievement between students with or without homework, but I have yet to see it.

It is likely just too subjective to prove.

That said, there is major substance and evidence linked to the importance of social growth and extracurricular educational opportunities. Both of which would be more accessible in a no-homework world.  

Technical Difficulties

The idea that technology could potentially be hindering our students is not something most educators are willing to back. Perhaps we have simply been programmed to think otherwise. After all, any and all governmental entities, accrediting agencies, and even textbook companies are pushing technology as the only way to increase student achievement.

Should technology be more a common sense application than a mandated educational structure?

Take the time to Google “Waldorf Schools” and simply read Waldorf’s philosophy on the absence of technology.

You see what I did there? -- Use technology to do research on a school system that (largely) doesn’t believe in technology.

Research completed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (UK) in 2015 examined how technology in schools impacted student achievement on multiple international exams.

The results?

In short, students with extended exposure to technology show “no appreciable improvements” in any of the tested subjects. Are schools simply becoming enablers for students addicted to technology they use at home?

I hope this short piece will not only offer some thought as you continuously work to improve your schools, but will serve as a catalyst to start an ongoing conversation.

Please share your thoughts with me using Twitter (@CoachGarletts). I cannot wait to hear from you all, and if you are laughing at my request technology-infused communication, irony happens to be one of my favorite things!

References

Coughlan, S. (2015, September 15). Computers do not improve pupil results says OECD. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/business-34174796

Doyle, W. (2016, August 30). A world education leader is fleeing Common Core and other American Ideas, we should pay attention. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/08/30/education-reform-common-core-finland-us-schools-column/89511246/

Habib, N. (2016, September 6). No-homework policies attracting attention. Retrieved from http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/education/no-homework-policies-attracting-attention/article_d30510ef-bf30-567e-88d6-f844f6496e90.html

Kardaras, N. (2016, August 27^th). It’s digital heroin: how screens turn kids into psychotic junkies.  Retrieved from http://nypost.com/2016/08/27/its-digital-heroin-how-screens-turn-kids-into-psychotic-junkies/

Kelly, J. (2015, April 15). 11 ways Finland’s education system shows us that less is more. Retrieved from https://fillingmymap.com/2015/04/15/11-ways-finlands-education-system-shows-us-that-less-is-more/

Koerber, B. (2016, August 22). Teacher absolutely nails it with new homework policy. [Web log comment]. Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2016/08/22/no-more-homework-/#4EecUR.ar5qY

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Dr. Donovan Garletts is passionate about myriad issues that confront the “forefront” of K-12 education and can be reached for conversation and commentary at his Twitter account above.  Please reach-out and let him know your thoughts regarding his article, and of course, the articles he references.

Your Genie; One Wish

Your Genie; One Wish

By Dr. Ryan Donlan

Assistant Professor

Department of Educational Leadership

Bayh College of Education

Indiana State University

            You’re a school principal. 

You live in Anywhere, USA, big or small. 

Pressures of school accountability are what they are.  They’re tough to deal with at times. 

You love the challenge, or at least you say you do (when at Rotary).

You have good teachers, good staff members, and parents who love their kids.  The difficulties you face are typical of the principalship: Older generations struggling to understand newer generations; ever-moving performance targets; the up’s and down’s of performance scores on annual standardized tests; and difficulties finding new teachers wanting to enter the profession who are properly licensed for your openings.

And . . . you really do have the BEST job in the world! 

Those of us who have been principals really “get this.”

            Then, while heading down your school building hall one day, you meet a Genie with a lamp. 

As you introduce yourself and ask for its hall pass, you hear from your Genie that everyone is being asked to do more with less nowadays, even Genies. 

(The Genie is able to offer you a hall pass, because . . . well, it's a Genie)

Anyway, you find-out the Genie has only one wish available to grant.  Your only option will be multiple choice, as open-ended responses are simply too costly to process. 

You are, however, welcome to provide your answer on a computer.

            Here goes:

            Would you rather have:

_____ a. One million dollars in cash, yet with a surrender of your administrator’s license.

_____ b. A contractual roll-over guaranteed with a 3% raise every year for a lifetime, no matter how well the students and school do each year.

_____ c. A love of lifelong learning guaranteed for every one of your students for the next 50 years, yet with standardized testing scores that may or may not meet state expectations.

_____ d.  Standardized testing scores for all students meeting or exceeding state performance expectations for the next 50 years.

_____ e.  Nothing really.

________________________________________________________________

Dr. Ryan Donlan hopes that K-12 building principals will see themselves as critically important to the lives of students, and thus capable of making decisions that have opportunity/cost consequences.  Good decisions.  Just decisions.  Smart decisions.  What decision would you hope the principal of your child would make?  If you would like to share, please let Dr. Donlan know at ryan.donlan@indstate.edu.

           

Executive Presence: A "Must" in Educational Leadership

Executive Presence: A “Must” in Educational Leadership

By Dr. Ryan Donlan

Assistant Professor

Department of Educational Leadership

Bayh College of Education, 326A

Indiana State University

I have been asked to speak to an MBA class this fall on the concept of Executive Presence, as applied to education.  Admittedly, a nebulous concept, yet one that if used in moderation, can add a nutritional boost to one’s leadership.  In terms of how this applies to those of us working in P-12 education, I'm thinking about describing it as follows:

Executive Presence is . . .

Something between the dichotomy of “officious” and “chummy.”

Something noticed without needing to see it when heard; and something noticed without needing to hear it when seen.

Something that exists on a conscious/competence continuum, in different stages of our professional careers: At first, we are unconscious regarding our incompetence at it (in our blind spot).  Then, we are conscious of that incompetence.  Over time, we work on our competence with executive presence, consciously.  Once doing so, we become unconsciously competent at it eventually, as it become how we “roll.”  Finally, we use our conscience, unconscious competence of executive presence as we teach it to others.

Something that can be worn without donning a professional outfit, but can use one as an accessory.

Something that reminds us of the old E.F. Hutton Commercial, because when someone with Executive Presence talks, “. . . people listen.”

Something that seasons with the passing of time, the raising of children, and with positive treadwear.

Something that can be learned as a skill, yet with some having it as a talent.

Something that appears more authentic when individualized to one’s personality and context.

Something that allows one to leverage positively, organizational culture.

Something that requires one to understand that oneself is “OK,” and others are too.

Something whose arms can hug, whose fingers can pull a trigger, whose hands can wield a pen of clemency, whose heart can forgive, and whose mind does not forget.

Executive Presence – Nebulous, yet critical for any successful, practicing principal or superintendent.  What would its picture look like next to the dictionary definition? 

Who is its poster child in your district?

_______________________________________________________________

Dr. Ryan Donlan is working as an author, speaker, trainer, and graduate faculty member to help others build their levels of executive presence in P-12 education.  If you would like to help him flesh out the skeleton of this construct, please give him a call at (812) 237-8624 or write him at ryan.donlan@indstate.edu.  He would love to talk.

In "Alex's" Class: On Tour, Where All's Good

In “Alex’s” Class:

On Tour, Where All’s Good!

By Dr. Ryan Donlan

Assistant Professor

Department of Educational Leadership

Bayh College of Education

Indiana State University

            Two days ago, I stood face-to-face with something that got my attention. 

On a trip with family at Rocky Mountain National Park near Boulder, Colorado, I was traveling in an 8-passenger rental vehicle that I would be using to drive nearly 12,000 feet above sea level, on a narrow, winding dirt road with steep ravines, thousand foot drops, and no guard rails.

            Even to this formerly active skydiver, the notion of driving my family up such a path was intimidating.

            I was a bit pensive.

            Tour guide “Alex” from Alex Rocky Mountain Tours offered to drive if I wished, and while respecting his skills and expertise, I opted to keep my hands on my own wheel and let Alex tend to his craft: Guiding and storytelling. 

He was AMAZING.

            I’m not sure why I do not possess the rush for incidence that I once had . . . possibly a result of marriage and child-rearing, or just plain accumulated wisdom about what one should and should-not-do, naturally. 

            Driving large vehicles up narrow paths with no guardrails, thousands of feet in the air: typically a should-not-do, from my perspective.

Thus, I made no hesitation in asking a series of questions to an incredibly patient “Alex,” as he offered us options on which trek to take – the exhilarating trek or the still-cool-yet-admittedly-more-mild-pathway.

My words, not his. 

He made each sound like an adventure.

I began the negotiations with the “still-cool” option.

Pretty firm on the safer option, with a gentle nudge or two I was provided kind assurances that the more-exhilarating dirt road was, in fact, a more learned option . . . even a one-way path for our safety, with little-to-no chance of oncoming Winnebago’s careening toward us around tight curves.

Ok, so I capitulated to my much-more-adventurous family.

            Fast forward past our incredible tour and ascension up the mountain – the awe-inspiring views, Alex’s great stories, humbling geographic formations carved by once-glacial activity, and wildlife (from small, yellow-bellied marmots, to the towering 700 pound Elk just up the hill). 

Fast forward as well past the lunch at the top, gifts purchased, and a descent that was as unsettling (to me) as the climb (paved, yet with two-way traffic, still bereft of guardrails). 

Fast-forward past the family recount of what was the coolest part of the trip, and what else came close. 

            What happened next in reflection was fairly predicable to those who know me . . . my thoughts went to P-12 leadership, and more particularly this time, teachership.

It was borne of my initial worry as family protector.

            You see . . . Alex was, in a sense, our teacher. 

And we were his students.

            Alex was providing to us a day in school, and we were experiencing things that were a bit unsettling, things that were totally unfamiliar, yet things good for us.

           

Probably sounds like your first few weeks in school this year, doesn’t it? 

Or . . . your first few weeks to come.

            Here is what really stuck out, to me.

            Can you imagine what might have been going through the mind of Alex!?!?

            Who am I meeting today?

            Are they patient, or demanding?

            Are they receptive, or are they know-it-all’s?

            Can I teach them?  Will they learn?

            Will they apply what I share to their lives, and to others’?

            Here’s something else. 

Alex had the courage to hop into an 8-passenger vehicle, soon to be heading up a mountain to an altitude of nearly 12,000 feet, with an unfamiliar driver he had never met (me) and a narrow winding dirt road with steep ravines, thousand foot drops, and no guard rails.

That took guts!

Alex did all of this without any of us ever seeing him sweat.
He even took care of the "little things" that would be a distraction to most (or left of radar), and these were greatly appreciated!

And it is quite possible all-the-while that he was sweating . . . yet again and if so, invisibly.

            I now realize that Alex had no idea if I were to be demanding, accepting, a good listener, or a know-it-all.  He did not know how I would handle stress.  Alex didn’t even know if I could drive that well, because to be quite frank, passing a driver’s test is a pretty low bar, given the climb we were about to make and the road upon which to make it.

            Yet, Alex hopped in the Tahoe. Alex is a great teacher, and that is what the best do!

            How many of your teachers, despite the dangers they face – those to their professional reputations for taking chances, with job security determined by high-stakes accountability systems – hop into the Tahoe and take that ride???

Do we as leaders stop and ponder what is happening in each of our 29-passenger Tahoes, up those steep ravines? 

We are so fortunate each day that our teachers teach much like Alex, where everyone is ON TOUR with learning, and ALL’s GOOD!

___________________________________________________________ 

Dr. Ryan Donlan has the deepest of admiration for the thousands of P-12 teachers who are heading back into the classrooms this summer and fall.  Please consider following Dr. Donlan on Twitter at @RyanDonlan or contacting him at ryan.donlan@indstate.edu sharing a story of your “Alex” who is taking folks to the Alpine and back in one piece, with a newfound appreciation of things they are experiencing that might scare them, but in the hands of a good teacher, turn-out for the best.

Connecting the Dots

Connecting the Dots

By Dustin Jorgensen

Principal

Forest Park Elementary

Brazil, Indiana

Ph.D. Student

Department of Educational Leadership

Bayh College of Education

Indiana State University

&

Ryan Donlan

Assistant Professor

Department of Educational Leadership

Bayh College of Education

Indiana State University

                  Playing “connect the dots” as a child is an experience that brings much joy.  Most of us can recall that when we were very young, the game started with a picture that had very few dots on it, yet a lot of solid lines.  We could pretty much tell what the image was before even setting crayon to paper. 

But the reward of connecting those dots was in looking at the final picture and saying, “Look what I drew!” 

Then, we get older.  The lines went away and more dots appeared. 

Still, this was pretty cool.  There was a bit of mystery in our not being able to tell what the image was when first looking at the page of dots.  Sure, there might be a hint or a category, but it wasn’t until we got halfway through (or toward the end) that we could actually discern the image. 

Still, there was great satisfaction.  We connected!

 It was always cool when the picture materialized and we had a sense of accomplishment.

In later years growing up, we still played these games, yet with a bit more of an academic flair, intentionally infused in the activity.  Remember placing the dots, ourselves, on a coordinate grid, after doing a bit of math?  Not only did we learn about mathematical concepts and relationships, we were actually applying what we know and still got to come up with a fun picture to color in the end. 

We have noticed, however, that in real life, connecting the dots has lost a bit of its luster.  And that is too bad, as it is very much an undersold developmental skill in terms of its importance to us in our lives. 

As we have avoided these connections once they became a little more work and a little less fun, we have done something to ourselves as a society. 

We now often live our lives as if the only dot we care about is ours.

We see one dot; not a bigger picture.

There is little room for a “we,” “us,” “they,” or “them,” atop a dot.

It’s this big: .

Author Robert Putnam (2000) might say that this is why we are now bowling alone, if we are bowling at all.

            We believe that it is time to connect the dots again. 

It is time to make it fun.

It is a time to help children make sense of the world. 

It is time that adults do as well.

Our professional lives seem to revolve around testing children in core subjects and trying to compete on international tests.  And because of this, policymakers and educational practitioners have put Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) programs and character education offerings on their back burners . . . with no heat. 

While we know that all children thirst for experiences that prepare them for gainful life in our society, are we giving them the help they need?  Think how many of them are dealing with the setbacks of troubled homes.  Elias (2016) pointed out that it isn’t just about parents helping their own children, but that any adult that interacts with children can affect their development.

As educators, we are called to embrace the most important of what society has abrogated.  But are we equipped?

We are not communicating.  And, it isn’t just educators. 

Parents share with us at times that they don’t know why their kids are misbehaving in our schools.  Could it be that we are all just too busy for a sit-down meal?  Oh, and living vicariously through our children’s parentally manufactured activity commitments, we didn’t get that homework done last night either because practice lasted until 10:00. 

What season is that sport??? 

Year round.  Duh! 

If it’s not sports, it’s dance, or something else, where some parents at times (and tragically) seem to show-up to participate in their own social-pecking order.  It seems (when we allow ourselves to “go negative”) that being at practice or a competition is enjoyed for the sole purpose of having a comfortable place to text, rather than to watch children . . . or so that we can over-share details about our lives with others within earshot.

What do you mean you didn’t see the picture of me at the game?  I posted it on Facebook, Tweeted it, and shared it!

            According to a recent study (Decarr, 2016), average participants visited social media sites 30 times per week.  This is a study of adults!  You can’t walk in the mall or down the street without almost bumping in to someone on his or her “smart” phone.   The same study found that the way social media was used led to maladaptive outcomes for some participants. 

Imagine if we put down this same media and ask our children how their days were and what they learned at school. 

To do so would be a viable option for better communication, and to be quite frank, might even lessen the probability that a picture of your family’s laundry would go “viral” accidentally.   It may even offer a temporary reprieve from the angst of someone “un-friend-ing” you because you stole someone else’s significant other (and heaven forbid the disappointment that no one “liked” the post that you spent a lot of time and effort posing for, at soccer practice).

This is very much where we are developmentally as a country:  Many of us standing upon dots, with no connections to help us show our children the way.  The 1300 “friends” you have on Facebook don’t count.

            We don’t put pictures under our armpits to develop them anymore. 

Images can be shared with one tap of a button or one click of a mouse.  And the damage can be life-changing. 

Yet, according to a recent report, most schools hire more security officers than school counselors (Education News, 2016), and schools are under increasing pressure to measure-up in two core content areas, with a disproportionate amount of time and focus attending to them, when we see our children’s lives with waning foundations and certainly few connections from which they can learn appropriately, and grow. 

With social media playing such a prominent role, shouldn’t we hire professionals who can intervene and counsel students regarding social issues, or at least allow those who are qualified to take the time?  A school counselor cannot afford to help create schedules and prepare kids for college, let alone police the standardized testing windows and embargo materials.

Our schools need to provide ambassadors for appropriate citizenship, shoulders to cry on, strong head toward which to turn , and someone who can help a young person deal with a world in which their parents are not currently living, and sometimes ones in which they “do,” a bit too much.

            It’s time to connect the dots! 

We need to help children deal with their real worlds, not ours.

References

Decarr, K. (2016, April 11). Do Links Between Social Media, Depression, and Addiction Exist? Education News. Retrieved from http://www.educationnews.org/technology/do-links-between-social-media-depression-and-addiction-exist/

Elias, M. (2016, April 6). 5 Myths Working Against Character Education in Our Schools. Edutopia. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/myths-working-against-character-education-maurice-elias

Putnam, R. (2000). Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

Scott, R. (2016, April 1). Largest School Districts Hire More Security Officers Than Counselors. Education News. Retrieved from
http://www.educationnews.org/k-12-schools/largest-school-districts-hire-more-security-officers-than-counselors/

_______________________________________________________________ 

Dustin Jorgensen and Ryan Donlan want to put the “real” back into the real needs of children in public schools.  If you would like to connect the dots while connecting with them, please feel free to contact them at jorgendu@clay.k12.in.us and ryan.donlan@indstate.edu.