Absolutely, board relations are complicated. No doubt
about that. In my opinion, individual board members
and boards themselves can sometimes get distracted
from what really matters: student learning and
achievement.
Office
Mailing
Phone
549 Court Street
PO Box 14855
775/657-8411
What are some of the behaviors that contribute to
heading down a rocky road where decisions are made
that create division or devastate a program or school
community? Here are some of the things I’ve recently
read that describe what might be a problematic school
board member. I’m describing these as questions for
consideration—rather than as accusations.
Reno, NV 89501
Reno, NV 89507
Fax 775/453-1017
Supporting Success for All Students
through Local School Board Leadership
Do you vote against everything the rest of the
board supports? If you have six or seven fellow board
members who are voting to support something
beneficial to the children in the school district, and your
first thought is to vote against it…just because…you
might be a problematic school board member.
A
Message
from
NASB’s
President
Do you act as a rubber stamp? If you never read
the board packets, emails, or important memos from
central office administration, agree to things too
quickly, don’t engage during meetings…and people have
to check your pulse to make sure you are still breathing
in those meetings…you might be a problematic school
board member.
For the August President Message, I want to comment
on a question that has sometimes been asked by other
policymakers: What causes school boards to
experience dissention or to have difficulties in decisionmaking?
Do you know what is happening in the schools?
“Which school is that?” “What is the name of that
principal again?” “Is that an elementary school?”
“Where is that school located?” If such questions are
common for you…you might be a problematic school
board member.
Some boards are united. They work effectively and
collaboratively with school stakeholders and
constituents. They strive to make their school
communities stronger.
Ideally, school boards and district administrations work
together on common goals developed by a stakeholder
group that is representative of members of the school
community. That common goal should focus on learning
and student growth.
Do you possess a singular self-interest? I actually
think it’s okay for a person to run for the school board
because his/her child had an issue and, as a parent,
he/she wants to correct that issue for his/her child and
other children. It becomes more problematic when that
is the ONLY reason to stay on the board. In any
situation, we should learn from experience and stretch
our thinking about school. If a board member has a
singular self-interest and never grows because if it, you
might see a problematic school board member.
Unfortunately, the word “ideally” had to be included at
the beginning of the last paragraph. Too many people
seem to run for school boards because of their own selfinterests revolving around resolving the issues that
their own children have/had in school. Some want to
use the board as a stepping stone for bigger political
positions in their communities. Others may serve for
other reasons that are less about the good of the
communities.
Do you have a low impression of schools? There
are school board members who seem to care less about
public education, disrespect teachers as adults who
make too much money with too much time off, and see
no need for administrators. If you believe this and you
happen to be in a school district where teachers are
being innovative, administrators are trying their best to
support teachers, students, and parents…and the
schools are showing growth, you might be a
problematic school board member.
I have seen and heard countless stories about highly
dysfunctional school boards. Instead of having civil
disagreements on important issues, they bicker. Plain
and simple. They vie for having the loudest voice or
play to the crowd rather than focusing on students and
their needs.
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There are school boards in Nevada and across America
that work effectively with their communities. I thank
each one of them for that, whether the board members
were elected or appointed. Such board members should
be acknowledged for helping make their school
communities stronger. They clearly create expectations
for themselves and hold each other accountable.
“Changing the mindset of one teacher can
change the social experience of that child’s
entire world,” said Jason A. Okonofua, a Stanford
University social psychologist who led the
experiments.
In- and out-of-school suspensions have come under
increasing scrutiny as a discipline tactic.
It seems to me that it is imperative for us to work
together toward common goals that help move us
toward what we want from and for our schools.
Anything else makes school board members part of the
problem without offering much of a solution.
One recent study from the University of California, Los
Angeles, estimates that because suspensions are so
closely linked to later school dropout and referrals to
law enforcement, cutting the 16 percent nationwide
rate for all 10th grade suspensions by even 1
percentage point could save taxpayers $691 million
over students’ lives.
As always for these messages, I turn to Lou Holtz for a
quote that seems to capture the point I am trying to
make: “All winning teams are goal-oriented. Teams like
these win consistently because everyone connected
with them concentrates on specific objectives.” In my
opinion, truer words were never spoken about the work
that we do as school board members.
In a series of experiments, the Stanford researchers
found teachers often view respect in terms of
cooperation and compliance. For students, respect
involves “a basic recognition of your humanity,”
Okonofua said, including remembering a student’s
name (and pronouncing it correctly), not speaking
down to students or embarrassing them in front of
their peers, and expressing interest in their
perspectives. Both college- and middle-school-age
students reported losing respect for teachers who
disciplined students in a dismissive or punitive way,
and said that they would be more likely to misbehave
in such a teacher’s class.
Sincerely,
Joe Crim
Joe Crim, Jr.
NASB President
Cutting Suspension Rates
Middle school students whose math teachers had
participated in a training program to improve their
empathy in student-discipline cases were suspended
at lower rates than their peers. The effect was
particularly strong for minority students and those
who had been suspended before.
One Key to Reducing
School Suspension: A
Little Respect
By Sarah D. Sparks
“R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Find out what it means to
me.”
In schools working to reduce suspension rates,
teachers could take a cue from Aretha Franklin:
Considering how young people view respect can
greatly improve classroom management, new studies
show.
Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Feeling respected can change how hard students
are willing to work in class, too.
A one-time intervention to help teachers and students
empathize with each other halved the number of
suspensions at five diverse California middle schools,
and helped students who had previously been
suspended feel more connected at school, according
In a separate series of experiments, Geoffrey Cohen,
a Stanford professor of organizational studies in
education, found that just a short, encouraging note
on a highly marked-up essay could change the way
students considered their teachers’ critiques. Adding a
note saying “I’m giving you these comments because
to Stanford University research published in April
findings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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I have high standards and I know you can reach
them” significantly boosted students’ willingness to
rewrite their papers: from 62 percent to 87 percent
for white students, and from 17 percent to a 71
percent of black students.
three days later, the student misbehaved in a minor
way again, teachers were more bothered by the
behavior and more likely to consider it part of a
pattern by a “troublemaker” if the student had a
“black-sounding” name. Moreover, those—mostly
white and female—teachers were more likely to
recommend a severe punishment like a suspension for
the behavior.
“The simple act of answering, ‘Do you believe in me?’
can do wonders for a kid who believes he might not
have a place in the class,” Cohen said. There’s a dark
side to the results, though, Cohen added. “What does
this say about the status quo? It is failing to provide
kids with the affirmation that they could and should
get to fulfill their potential,” he said. “This is not
about giving the kid a note; it’s about changing the
culture, providing opportunities for kids to feel
valued.”
Okonofua randomly asked veteran teachers to read
one of two articles: One argued that good teacherstudent relationships are critical for students to
develop self-control—a statement aligned with what
Okonofua calls an “empathic mindset”—and the other
argued that punishment is critical for a teacher to
take control of a classroom, a statement aligned with
a more punitive mindset.
“Stereotypes serve as glue, sticking otherwise
unrelated behavior together to make it seem like a
pattern,” Okonofua said. “The label ‘troublemaker’
leads teachers to want to discipline students more
severely, because they see the behavior as a sign of
disrespect.”
Then, both sets of teachers were asked how they
would handle minor middle school behavior problems,
such as disrupting class to throw away trash.
Teachers who had read about the importance of
relationships were more likely to speak to the student
privately about classroom rules and work to find an
alternative solution.
That could help explain why, in spite of a 20 percent
drop in out-of-school suspensions nationwide since
2011-12, new federal civil rights data show racial
disparities in discipline continue. Black students are
nearly four times more likely to be suspended out of
school than white students: While 6 percent of all K12 students were suspended out of school in 2013-14,
18 percent of black boys and 10 percent of black girls
were suspended, compared to only 5 percent and 2
percent for white boys and girls.
Teachers who read about control and punishment
were more likely to threaten or dress down the
student in front of others, send him to the hall or
principal’s office, or call for a meeting with the
student and his parents or an administrator.
Even in preschool, black children are more than three
times as likely to be sent home for misbehaving than
white children, federal data show.
“Our emphasis on teachers’ mindsets does not
diminish the importance of punitive discipline policies;
rather, it illustrates one reason why such policies
matter,” Okonofua said. “They create a context that
discourages teachers from prioritizing building strong
relationships with students at critical junctures.”
Building Empathy
Based on the teacher study, Okonofua and his
colleagues developed a professional-development
workshop for teachers in five middle schools in three
districts. Math teachers—chosen because math is a
core subject and one associated with a high risk of
stereotype threat for black and Latino students—took
part in one 45-minute, in-person workshop and one
25-minute, online exercise on ways to resolve
misbehavior in class. Teachers were randomly
assigned to either a control group or a training
focused on how stress and insecurities that children
develop during adolescence can make them detach or
act out in school. The teachers also heard testimony
from students, talking about how they felt more cared
for and respected when teachers took the time to
Race and Respect
That’s important, because racial stereotypes can
increase a teacher’s punitive mindset and escalate
punishments. In prior studies, Okonofua and his
colleagues had found that teachers are more likely to
invoke stereotypes about students of color in
response to minor behavioral problems. Teachers
were asked to discipline minor behavior problems of
middle school students with names associated with
white or black children.
“For the first infraction, there was little difference in
teachers’ responses by race,” Okonofua said—but if,
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“The most interesting and inspiring part is that we
only intervened with one of the students’ teachers,
and it affected their interactions with every other
teacher. Just having one better relationship with
a teacher at school—just one—can serve as a
buffer for all the other struggles and challenges
at school,” Okonofua said.
understand them during discipline, and they worked
through exercises about empathetic rather than
punitive ways to respond to rule breaking.
“I don’t think the concept of empathy is something
new to many teachers,” he said, but “there are a lot
of other factors involved. Teachers are stressed out,
depleted, and they can tend to lose sight of the
relationships they want to build with their students.”
Geoffrey Cohen called this sort of intervention “nudge
and flow”—not an attempt to teach students or
educators new skills, but to “give a person
encouragement at the right time to look at a context
in the right way.”
The intervention is “creating a way psychologically for
that empathy to persist in light of stressful
environments. It’s not that [empathetic] teachers just
stop disciplining students. When they discipline, they
ask the student why he or she is misbehaving and try
to address the misbehaving in a way that addresses
the behavior instead of the identity of the child.”
The researchers plan to repeat the study with a larger
group of schools next year, as well as follow up in
more detail on how students’ and teachers’ feelings of
respect for each other change over time.
[This article was originally published online by Education
Week, July 13, 2016.]
NASB Conference
Keynote Speaker
Friday, November 18
Dr. Kati Haycock,
Education Trust
Dr. Kati Haycock is one of
the nation's leading advocates
in the field of education. She
currently serves as President of
The Education Trust. Established
in 1996, Ed Trust works for the
high academic achievement of
all students at all levels, prekindergarten through college.
In Okonofua’s study of 2,000 middle schools, students
whose math teachers participated in the empathy
training were half as likely to be suspended by the
end of the school year than students whose teachers
had not participated.
The organization’s goal is to close the gaps in
opportunity and achievement that consign too many
low-income students and students of color to lives on
the margins of the American mainstream.
The strongest effects were for students—often black
and Latino boys—who had been suspended at least
once in the prior year. In surveys a few months later,
those same previously suspended students were also
significantly more likely to report feeling that their
teachers respected them if they had teachers who had
participated in the empathy training.
Before coming to The Education Trust, Haycock served
as Executive Vice President of the Children's Defense
Fund, the nation's largest child advocacy
organization. A native Californian, Haycock founded and
served as President of The Achievement Council, a
statewide organization that provided assistance to
teachers and principals in predominantly minority
schools for improving student achievement.
Known for years as a powerful force on education
policy, Ed Trust is often described as “the most
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important truth teller” in American public education.
But the organization also works hand in hand with
educators and civic leaders in their efforts to transform
schools and colleges into institutions that serve all
students well.
School Board Members
Are Active outside the
Board Room
Haycock speaks about educational improvement before
thousands of educators, community and business
leaders, and policymakers each year.
She has received numerous awards for her service to
our nation’s youth, and serves as a director on several
education-related boards, including those of the
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching,
The New Teacher Project, and the Hunt Institute.
Thanks to NASB’s corporate
sponsors for their generous
support—
Howard Rosenberg [Washoe CSD Board Member
and Liaison to the NASB Executive Committee] is shown
in this photo with Carol Channing taken at her 94th
birthday party in Palm Springs.
Howard has been friends with Ms. Channing for many
years. He first met her when she appeared in Reno in a
production of Hello Dolly! He went with his mother to a
gathering after the performance, and they became fast
friends when Carol learned that Howard and his mother
were related to Sophie Tucker. Ms. Tucker was a
Ukrainian-born American singer, comedian, actress, and
radio personality—one of the most popular entertainers
in America during the first half of the 20th century. She
was famous for her comical and risqué songs and
routines. Many of her jokes were made famous by Bette
Midler in the second half of the 20th century. Howard is
her grand-nephew. He says that everyone in the family
called her “Aunt Soph.” According to Howard, you could
always tell who really knew Ms. Tucker because they
called her “Soph” not “Sophie.”
Since that long ago meeting, Howard and Carol’s
friendship has continued over the years as he has been
invited to spend time with Carol at her Palm Springs
home. He says that Carol exercises daily in order to
avoid ever having to go onstage in a wheelchair. In his
opinion, “There is no line between her onstage presence
and her off-stage personality.”
The Outrageous Sophie Tucker—a documentary
focusing on the tumultuous early days of this vaudeville
superstar who was the first woman to infatuate her
audiences with a bold, bawdy, and brassy style—was
released in 2015. It was shown first at the Palm
Springs International Film Festival in January 2015.
Howard was interviewed for the film and is featured in
several segments commenting as a family member on
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midnight showing of their opening day) and visited
Universal Florida, just to go to the section themed after
the famed character.
Aunt Soph and her influence on entertainment and the
theater. He says, “I think one of the most marvelous
times was watching her and Jimmy Durante rehearsing
for one of his television programs. You could tell they
adored one another because the repartee was not to be
believed and I was warned NEVER to tell anyone what I
heard. Children shouldn't hear such language!”
When Pottermore started offering a chance to get in on
the beta, I eagerly went there every day to get in on
the excitement. One of my students tipped me off the
day I got accepted, I will never forget the excitement
when I found out I was magical.
Later in spring 2015, Howard attended a special panel
discussion in Palm Desert at the Cinemas Palme d’Or .
His partners on the panel included Carol Channing and
Kaye Ballard, also a long-time friend of Soph. About
that experience Howard commented, “I kept my mouth
shut when faced by my betters.”
When my son was old enough to understand, I couldn't
wait to start reading the books to him and watching the
movies together.
And at school, I've been awarded by my students, the
teacher most likely to kill Lord Voldemort and the
teacher most likely to attend Hogwarts. I hold these
honors in very high esteem.
Since 1967, Howard has taught at UNR as professor of
Visual Foundations in the Film Studies and Art
Education programs. He was elected to serve on the
WCSD Board of School Trustees in 2012. About his
activities outside the board room, he says, “I am
blessed with the best memories in the world.”
Ten Lessons Learned
from Harry Potter
By Starr Sackstein
When I was sorted into the Gryffindor on Pottermore, it
was no surprise. I probably should have been a
Ravenclaw, but I told the sorting hat, Gryffindor and so
it was, after all, the sorting hat does take your wants
into consideration.
Like with all good literature, there are many themes
and lessons we can learn and apply to our everyday
lives... Harry Potter is no exception.
Here are ten life lessons from the Harry Potter Series in
no particular order (There could probably be 100.):
1. Friendship and love make life worthwhile.
Harry is able to overcome the odds in his early life,
even without the guidance of a nuclear family. His
friendship with Hermione and Ron and the entire
Weasley family help him grow into a man his
parents would've been proud of. It is because of
these relationships that he is able to persevere over
the most terrible circumstances. Even when times
get hard for each of us, the people we surround
ourselves with will make those times more bearable
in life and in the classroom.
2. We all need help sometimes. In many situations,
Harry didn't want to include his friends or allow
them to feel the weight of his
most grievous burdens; he thought he could fight
the most dangerous wizard alone. He was wrong
and luckily for him, his friends were always there to
help, even when he didn't want them to be. Without
After a particularly fun #sunchat about pop culture in
the classroom, I got to thinking about my unnatural,
almost stalker-like obsession with the Harry Potter
Series.
I've read all of the books including supplemental
additions, seen all of the movies (most of them at the
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the help of Harry's friends, he could never have
accomplished what he did. Although asking for help
is often challenging, we will all need and should
accept the help of others when the circumstance
deems it necessary.
5. Perseverance is possible, always. Despite
Voldemort's exhaustive efforts to kill Harry over a
seven-year period, Harry always manages to
persevere and save the day. In each of our lives
there will be many obstacles that seem like they
can break us, but we can't allow them to, we MUST
push on. As teachers, every day is a new day and
despite the challenges, hardships or woes that could
ruin our journey, we must remember why we chose
this noble profession.
3. Sometimes it's okay to break the rules.
Although not advisable all the time, in certain
situations Harry had to break the rules in order to
save his friends and/or the school. In life, we all
have to make decisions that feel right in our gut.
There may be rules that say we shouldn't, but in
matters where the greater good will benefit, it's
okay. For example, in my school system there was
an electronics policy in place that said students
couldn't bring their personal electronic devices to
class. My administration allowed me to break this
rule because the students were so engaged in their
learning and the devices weren't being misused.
6. It's okay to ask for what we want. Dumbledore
says, "It is our choices...that show what we truly
are, far more than our abilities." Although the
sorting hat was confused as to which house Harry
belonged in, Harry knew he didn't want to be a
Slytherin. Simply asking for what Harry wanted,
skewed the hat's decision. When we want
something, we must ask for it or else we will never
get it.
4. Although plans are useful, sometimes you
have to just go with it. In the final Harry Potter
book (and movie), Harry tells Hermione that they
have to go back to Hogwarts to find a horcrux that
is hidden there. Hermione, adamant about
methodical planning protests only to have Harry
remind her that none of the plans have worked thus
far. In life, we can organize and plan, but often
things don't go as we expect; there must be a
certain level of flexibility and adventure in all of us
if we want to succeed in our tasks. This is
particularly true in the classroom; with so many
different personalities, a teacher must be ready with
alternative solutions always. Being flexible is key.
7. Don't judge people by what they seem. The
obvious first person to consider here is Snape, a
teacher who seemed to have it out for Harry since
the day he stepped foot into Hogwarts. Later, we
find out that Snape has always been protecting
Harry because of a deal he made with Dumbledore
and a true love he felt toward Lily Potter. We will
always meet students or colleagues who aren't what
they seem. Judging, avoiding or hating them
doesn't help. Always get to know someone, find out
what they are about before you determine your
relationship with them.
8. Words are our most inexhaustible resources.
Dumbledore speaks of magic when he uses a similar
phrase, but it is so in life. Words have the power to
inflict harm or create passion, inspire dreams, and
change lives. It's always good to remember the
power of what we say and write and be in control of
the purpose of our choices.
9. Don't dwell on the past and forget to live.
Although dreams are what propel each of us on our
way, when Harry gets mired in the fantasy of his
parents in the mirror of Erised, Dumbledore
reminds him that he mustn't linger on what can
never be because he will miss his opportunity to
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experience life. Each of us has moments we cling to
that comfort in times of challenges, but we can't
remain in the past forever, we must always move
forward creating new experiences. Great students
will grace our classrooms. Amazing moments will
happen, but there will always be more and we
should cling to that fact, not the old experiences.
NASB Conference
Keynote Speaker
Saturday, November 19
Dr. Chris Haskell,
Boise State University
10. Recognize the significance of learning. You
never know when any small tidbit of learning will be
essential. Many times over the course of the novels,
Hermione's learning was able to bail the trio out.
Whether it was her knowledge of Devil's Snare or
her uncompromising thirst for knowledge in the
library, Hermione shows us that being logical and
observant will help us through most situations.
Although she does state that there are more
important things than cleverness, we know her
smarts are extremely worthwhile. Students often
grace our classrooms disinterested in our subject
matter. It is our job to make what we present to
them worthwhile and connected to their lives. We
must provide them with the skills to find answers to
questions they seek, as we continue to find answers
to our own questions.
I can probably go on forever as I have connected really
deeply with these characters. Both as a young adult and
now as an adult. We never know 100% what we will
latch on to, so I've learned the importance of keeping
an open mind.
[This article originally appeared as an opinion blog in Education
Week Online, Work in Progress, June 19, 2016.]
At Boise State University, Dr. Chris Haskell
specializes in preparing pre-service and graduate
teachers in methods and applications of technology
integration in the classroom.
In addition to instilling fundamental skills, Chris focuses
on the use, adaptation, and implementation of
emerging technologies in teacher education including
gaming, mobile communication devices, portable media
players, social networking tools, and virtual worlds.
Serving as a Clinical Assistant Professor in the
Department of Educational Technology at Boise State
University, Chris is actively piloting and developing
groundbreaking alternative approaches to delivering
and tracking learning. With co-inventor Dr. Lisa Dawley,
Chris created 3D GameLab, a game-based/quest-based
learning management system. His classroom serves as
a unique game-based technology and pedagogy lab
where this new and innovative practice is producing
exciting results.
Chris is also the creator and host of the Cool Teacher
Show, an entertaining and funny Facebook series for
teachers.
8
New York City Will End
Suspensions for
Students in K-2
nurturing school culture or even-handed discipline. At
the same time, we do not believe a 180-degree pivot
banning suspensions makes sense unless schools
have the necessary supports and interventions in
place."
By Denisa R. Superville
According to Mulgrew, many teachers and schools do
not comply with current school climate regulations
because the department of education had not
provided training, support, or money to accomplish
those goals. And he was skeptical that the promised
support for the newly-announced programs will
materialize.
The New York City school district, the country's
largest school system, will end suspensions for
students in kindergarten through second grade and
employ alternative, "age-appropriate" discipline
methods, the city announced Thursday.
In doing so, the New York City will join some other
big-city districts, including Minneapolis, Minn., that
have ended suspensions for their youngest students.
The new suspension policy is part of what the city
calls its "roadmap to promote safe schools and end
overly punitive school discipline policies." It will be
accompanied by an additional $47 million in annual
funding to support mental health and school climate
initiatives, according to the city.
Suspensions for children under eight will decrease if
the department did a better job of managing the
programs that it already had in place, he said.
"It is easy to ban suspensions," Mulgrew wrote. "It is
much harder to do the real work so suspensions are
no longer necessary."
The city touted new data showing that suspensions
had dropped 32 percent in the first half of the 201516 school year when compared with the same period
the previous school year.
The city also says it will work with the police
department on policies for removing or adding
scanners in schools and improving data reporting
about arrests, summons issued, and handcuffing in
schools.
But Mulgrew said in his letter that he was not sure
whether the drop in suspensions was the result of
district policies or administrators' fear that they would
face retribution for suspending students.
"Students feel safest when lines of responsibility and
rules are crystal clear," Mayor Bill de Blasio said in
announcing the policy shift. "Today's reforms ensure
that school environments are safe and structured. The
reforms also empower educators and families with
more data and greater clarity on school safety policy."
The announcement made for some strange
bedfellows.
The city's new policy will require schools to document
positive supports and intervention that principals
provide to students before suspending them. The city
will also offer more mental health supports in highneed schools.
Earlier this year, Families for Excellent Schools
published a report that showed an increase in violent
incidents in the city's schools. Those numbers, which
drew from state Department of Education data, were
higher than what the city reported. (The group was
also behind a lawsuit against the city alleging
that school violence had created an unsafe learning
environment for students.)
The United Federation of Teachers, a de Blasio ally,
pushed back against the changes saying they could
lead to disruptive classrooms. And the pro-charter
group, Families for Excellent Schools, a frequent de
Blasio critic, said that removing the decision on
whether to suspend a student from school leaders was
"bad, reactive policy-making" and that the
administration had "codified misguided school climate
policy."
The group published crime numbers again this week
in light of the city's new climate initiatives and data
from the city showing that school crime had
decreased. In an analysis of the city's numbers, the
New York Civil Liberties Union said it appeared
that "nearly all police encounters were with students
of color."
In a letter to Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña,
Michael Mulgrew, the teachers' union president,
wrote:
"Unfortunately, children who are in crisis and who are
disrupting classrooms are not going to be helped by
this plan to ban suspensions in grades K-2, and
neither will the thousands of other children who will
lose instruction as a result of those disruptions.
Jeremiah Kittredge, the executive director of Families
for Excellent Schools, said the city's new climate
initiatives were an acknowledgement by the city that
it had a school violence problem.
The "Zero Tolerance" policies of the previous
administration clearly backfired—they never led to a
[This article originally appeared in Education Week Blogs
online, July 22, 2016.]
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