District Administration Interview

I haven't been able to post a new blog post in a few weeks due to all the traveling I've been doing and the fact that I was writing posts for other publications.  Here is one of them.  It is a follow up interview to a presentation I did at a District Administration Leadership Summit here in Phoenix.  There is a link to the video of the presentation at the end of this post.  I don't know if the word "invigorating" has ever been used to describe me.  Load mouth yes...invigorating not so much...

Q&A: With Jaime Casap, Senior Education Evangelist, Google

A follow-up to Casap's invigorating September DALI Summit keynote

Publication Date: 

November, 2012

 At the September District Administration Leadership Institute Summit in Phoenix, Ariz., Jaime Casap, chief education evangelist, Google, Inc., in his presentation, got the audience thinking about educational vision and where we need to be with regard to creating a learning environment that brings out the best in every child. We wanted to continue this critical conversation, so we followed up with Casap to find out how districts can jump-start their shift to a technology-pervasive learning environment.

What are three priorities K12 administrators need to make when it comes to technology?

The first would be broadband access. Our education system is preparing students for a world where the internet is ingrained into higher education, business practices, and our daily lives in general. Broadband access lets teachers take advantage of those tools and exposes students to the type of learning and working environment they will encounter in the future.

The second is learning to leverage the power and prevalence of the web to create a learning platform. As educators, we are starting to understand the impact the web can have. Videos, applications, interactive content, and knowledge bases make the world’s information accessible from multiple devices 24/7.  

And the third priority is putting equipment in the hands of teachers and students so they can access the rich content of an ever-expanding web. School administrators need to choose devices that not only give students and faculty access to that content, but that are nearly invisible so that the focus remains on the teaching and learning, not on the technology.

Of all the technologies available for K12, which category do you like the best for schools?

I always look for opportunities to emphasize the potential of the web as a common learning platform. Although some wouldn’t call the web “technology,” I certainly do. There used to be clear lines between technologies. You had hardware, software, applications. More and more, all technology is web-based.

What is one way superintendents and teachers can begin to think differently about facilitating education through technology that would be quick and easy and helpful right out of the gate?

School leaders have to look at technology not just in terms of how it can help transform educational practices and models in the future, but also in how it can help us today. If you can look for just two ways technology can help you do your job better, you will create a pattern of looking for more. Eventually, you will start to see how technology can be a catalyst to transforming education. There are hundreds of way teachers and administrators can quickly use technology and the web to improve their day-to-day work.

Other than DALI and District Administration, which magazines/websites/conferences would you recommend for superintendents and administrators to regularly review/attend?

I think the most important conferences that superintendents and administrators can attend are the local ones in their own backyards. I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had with superintendents and principals who ask me for case studies of schools that are doing great things with technology. More often than not, I’m able to introduce them to schools across the street! Getting together with their peers in the same state and talking with each other about what they are doing with technology in education and the web as a learning platform can go a long way!

Watch a video of Jaime Casap's presentation here.

Ghettosuperstar

“Ghetto superstar, that is what you are

Comin' from afar, reachin' for the stars

Run away with me, to another place…”
- Mya

I recently participated in a Google Hangout interview for a podcast from my home office in Phoenix.  On my wall behind my desk, and in clear view of any video call I’m on, hangs big wooden hand made letters.  They spell “GHETTOSUPERSTAR.”  I was asked about it during the interview and I thought the explanation needed a little more context.  The letters were a Father’s Day gift from my creative daughter who lovingly carved them with a table saw.  The project took her weeks to complete and I’m actually surprised, and very thankful, she still has all her fingers. 

I acquired the nickname while I was at Accenture (when it was still called Andersen Consulting).  On many Fridays, I used to write “Jaime rant” emails (before we called them blogs) that I shared with my friends at the firm.  A particular one I wrote, “why I was staying at Andersen,” was a reaction to the number of ‘goodbye’ emails we were all getting from fellow consultants leaving and joining the thousands of start-ups that were booming in the middle of the tech bubble.  I wrote a ‘fake’ email about my decision to stay at the firm and included all the reasons why I decided to stay.  Those I sent it to must have liked it because they forwarded it to their friends and networks.  Before I knew what was happening, it was being read and forwarded by thousands of consultants all over the world.  By Wednesday, the CEO had read it and he decided to forward it to all 70,000 employees with his thoughts on it.  It was a stunning “Jerry Maguire” experience and something I will never forget!  I had to respond to thousands of emails from consultants all over the world.

One of those first email forwards that was passed around and ended up in the inbox of many employees, was from a close friend who added to the forward, “from my friend Jaime Casap, the Ghetto Superstar,” referring to my background and to a song that was hot and all over the radio that summer.  Before I knew it, I started seeing it in emails and hearing it in meetings.

Nicknames come and go (and I had several in my life) but I still use the Ghettosuperstar one because for me,  it has come to symbolize that I should always remember where I came from and how I should always be proud of it.  For the longest time I hid where I came from or how I grew up.  I didn’t lie, I just never talked about it.  I felt people would look at me differently or think of me less if they knew my story.  Speaking to lots of other professionals who grew up like I did, I wasn’t the only one who felt this way.

Whenever I get the chance to talk to a class or a school of students, especially kids growing up in poor urban areas, I take it!  I will always try and make it work (even if we have to do it via video).  Students in these schools get to hear from guest speakers every once in a while at occasions like career days, or parent events.  They get to hear what it takes to be a lawyer, or a doctor, or a firefighter.  They get to listen to how important education is and how hard they have to work if they want to succeed.  I like to talk to them because I am someone who knows exactly what they are going through.  I lived exactly as they live and it’s important for them to hear from "one of their own," to think, "if he made it, then I can also make it!"  

Of course I start with the “what it’s like to work at Google” story.  Students love to hear these stories.  I get a chance to convince them all to go into computer science, engineering, or any of the sciences.  I tell them that if they work hard and get a great education, the payoff in the end will be well worth it.  I do this while I show them slides of people playing volleyball, playing pool, or writing scooters in the office (not something I would recommend by the way – ask me why if you see me).  I get them pretty excited about the possibility of developing a set of skills that create useful applications millions use or solve problems.  Before I start, I always ask them, “how many of you want to be engineers?” It never fails.  Maybe one hand go up, if I’m lucky.  When I’m done, I ask again and all the hands shoot straight up.  One of my favorite memories is of a seven grader who added, “I want to be one RIGHT NOW!”  We need to continue to beat the science drum any chance we get!  We all know the high paying careers of the future will require skills in the sciences.  More importantly, we want to create the entrepreneurs who will create the next 100 million jobs!  These science skills are critical to all our students.

The other reason I talk to students directly is to give them a pep talk.  I believe there are some critical messages they need to hear.  From my own experience, I know they don’t get to hear these messages enough.  I tell them that they should be proud of who they are and where they are from.  I tell them that some folks have low expectations on whether they will succeed and that their motivation should be to prove them wrong.  I tell them that their experiences, what they see in their neighborhood, and the lessons they learn on the street, will all be competitive advantage when they get older.  I tell them that their cultural background will be unique in whatever field they chose to go into.  I tell them that they will have a different perspective, that they will look at problem solving and creativity from a unique point of view.  I tell them to work hard, get a great education, and be successful.  I tell them to go out in the world and be ghetto super stars.

Make sure you look both ways!

“This is an invitation across the nation,

the chance for folks to meet
There'll be swinging, swaying, music playing,

and dancing in the street”

- Martha & The Vandellas

I live in an urban area of Phoenix, right downtown in fact.  One consequence to growing up in a place like New York City is that you’re never comfortable unless you see lots of cars, hear police sirens all night, or have your street lit up by police helicopters on the weekends.  Because we live in the city, and while my kids were young, I decided to teach my them to cross the street.  I knew I wasn’t going to be able to ban the cars.  The other option was to pretend the cars weren’t there and never ever let my kids cross the street.  I didn’t think that was reasonable.  Eventually they had to deal with cars so it made sense to teach them early and often.  When it comes to the web and our children, that’s exactly what many of us are doing.  We are pretending the web is not there.

The web isn’t going anywhere so ignoring it isn’t going to work.  We certainly aren’t teaching our kids how to navigate the web (teaching them to cross the street).  We’re left with the only option we have left, we simple ban it.  I don’t know if that’s the smartest idea in the world.  Like cars, eventually they are going to have to deal with the web.  Wouldn’t it make sense to teach them, early and often?

I have the opportunity to speak to lots of principals, superintendents, school board members, and parents.  Whenever I bring up this subject, they all start blaming each other.  The superintendent says, “the school board will never let me.”  The school board member says, “the parents wouldn’t let us.”  The parents say, “the school is to rigid and would never allow it.”  One of my favorite arguments I hear all the time is that the kids are picking up the skills at home.  The general argument goes something like this:

“Listen, the parents here are very traditional.  They don’t want their students surfing the web.  What if they end up complaining to the board?  Also, the feds would take away our eRate funding if we unblocked YouTube and we can’t lose that (I even had one senior administrator of a large district tell me that they would lose ALL federal funding, including Title 9!) Besides, the kids are developing these digital skills on their own, in their own home.  They were born digital citizens so there is no need to teach them.  Yes, I know a lot of them already have access to the web in their pockets but they aren’t doing it on school property so we aren’t accountable.”

I push back:

“Have you talked to the parents?  Have you showed them the benefits of the web?  Are you demonstrating how your school is developing student skills as you prepare them for their future?  Have you showed them how the web opens up new opportunities to learn?  Have you offered them ‘parent Internet classes’ to teach them what their kids will learn?  In terms of CIPA and eRate, can you give me the name of just one school that lost their funding for violating CIPA?  How much did they lose?  Can you show me where it says YouTube violates CIPA?  Finally, in terms of students developing the skills on their own at home, are you sure that’s what’s happening?  How do you know?”

The assumption that kids are learning these skills at home is insane.  Most college educated folks lack basic search skills.  Even if it was true, not all our kids would be learning these critical skills.  If the kid comes form a family that makes more than $75,000 a year, they have a 90% chance of having computer and Internet access at home.  If they comes from a family that makes less than $30,000 a year, then they have less than a 50% chance to have this access at home.  This applies to new technologies as well.  For high income families, 55% of kids have used a smart phone or a tablet.  For low income families, that number drops to 22%.  In fact,  38% of low income parents say they don’t even know what an app is.  In case you were wondering, it’s only 3% for high income parents.

So even if they were learning how to be good digital citizens at home, and we all know that most of them are not, then we are failing a good portion of our students, the ones who probably need the skills the most.  We need a different approach.  We need to teach our kids how to cross the digital street and turn their web experience into something positive.  We need to get parents involved.  We need to look at the web as the new platform which will require a set of skills critical to success. We should also be asking ourselves, what do we need to teach our kids so they are safe online?  How do we teach them to stay secure?  How do we teach them to protect themselves and their information?  How do we teach them about privacy, and what is the right and wrong way to interact with each other?

Things are certainly getting better, like in the case of Chicago Public Schools lifting it’s ban on YouTube (http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-02-01/news/ct-met-cps-digital-20120201_1_cps-jean-claude-brizard-ban) to help expand digital learning.    

Filtering bad content and sites is essential but not in the way many school systems do it.  Broad filters that catch everything, including sites like National Geographic, aren’t very useful. 

We need to teach our kids to be good digital citizens.  Even more importantly, we need to  teach our kids to be great digital leaders!  The world’s information is at our fingertips, we must take advantage of it.  As my teacher friend says, what students post and share on-line should be the reason why they get into college, not the reason they don’t.

Let’s teach our kids how to cross the street.

Your Attention Please

“I used to ride the train to the same two stops
And look at the graffiti on the rooftops
Like the same song playing on the jukebox
Joint called "Faded Polaroids In A Shoebox"
Regardless to what the cadence is
It can’t be forgotten like old acquaintances
I realize how depressing of a place it is
And when I notice my reflection whose face it is”

- The Roots

When you do a search for “millennials multitasking,” you can come up with 52,000 or so hits.  If you do one for “students Multitasking” you get close to 3 million hits.  You find articles debating the validity of this skill set, and you also find articles on how to teach, manage, and/or take advantage of this skill set.  One articles gives you ways that you can develop your multitasking skills.  Another gave you ways to hire the best multitaskers.

The problem is that multitasking does not exist.  A human brain can multitask, but not in the way some think it can.  Not when it comes to actually paying attention.  I can type this, wiggle my toes, and chew gum at the same time (oh yea, and it keeps my heart pumping too).  The brain is constantly multitasking.  However, what these links are describing, and what we think of when we think of multitasking, is doing two things at the same time, or, paying attention to more than one thing at a time.  This, we simply cannot do and all the evolving we’ve done in the millions of years we’ve been walking around hasn’t given us the capability to do so.  Say nothing of the idea that kids who are “digital natives” all of sudden have the ability to do something the brain hasn’t done in million of years.  Relatively speaking, evolution happens fast, but not that fast.

The irony is that we are creating a generation of kids that believes they can multitask, simply because they were born in the digital age.  We have convinced them that they are different than we are, that their generation was born with this special skillset.  It’s like saying my generation was born when we had cars, therefore we are all natural race car drivers.  What we should be doing is teaching them to concentrate, not filling their heads with the believe they were born with comic book super powers.

I just read Brain Rules, by John Medina.  It’s a fascinating and insightful book that describes how the brain works, and why it works as it does.  It comes complete with a set of 12 principles and rules about the brain.  In terms of multitasking, Medina citing real scientific research, calls it a myth.  “The brain naturally focuses on concepts sequentially, one at a time.  We are biologically incapable of processing attention-rich inputs simultaneously.”  In other words, your students (or you for that matter) must systematically move from typing an email to talking on the phone.  If you try and do both things at the same time, something is going to fail. 

So students can’t pay attention to two or three things at the same time (i.e., texting and driving).  Therefore they can’t read and text at the same time.  They can’t chat and do complicated math problems at the same time.  They can’t write an essay and watch TV at the same time.  It’s important to know this because they actually try (they get the essay done while watching TV) but studies show if you are interrupted, it takes you 50% longer to accomplish a task and you also make 50% more mistakes. 

If our students are multitasking, we’re simply not getting the best from them.

I’m the Taxman

“Let me tell you how it will be
There's one for you, nineteen for me
'Cause I'm the taxman, yeah, I'm the taxman”
- The Beatles

When I was in 3rd grade, I took one of those “what are you likely to be when you grow up” assessments, with some interesting results.  According to this assessment, I was to become an IRS agent.  Every time I mention that in a talk, I get some big laughs from the audience.  I don’t think there is anything wrong with being an IRS Agent.  I am sure it is a fine and honorable profession but if you know me even just a little bit, you would know why there was something seriously wrong with that assessment.  I am clearly not IRS Agent material and members of my team will tell you that I can barely figure out the tip.

However, that’s not the point of the story.  What happened after I got the results is what makes this story interesting.  My teacher looked at me in the eyes and said, “oh honey, you probably aren’t going to be an IRS Agent but don’t worry, I am sure you will work hard and get a good job.” 

Without knowing it at the time, I had just become a victim of a horrific affliction -  Low Expectation Syndrome.  Looking back at my life, I can point to very specific examples of Low Expectations Syndrome.  The problem with low expectations is that you don’t know you are a victim of it for a long time and I would argue many people never realize it.  These low expectations have dire consequences on students, especially students growing up in disadvantaged environments.  Low expectations give you permission to not work hard, to be lazy, to tell yourself that you are doing exactly what you are supposed to be doing.  It is truly a life altering decease.

Luckily for me, my 4th grade teacher had the antidote and treated the Syndrome with a new set of expectations and kicked my ass.  She was the first real great teacher I had.  I handed in work and she handed it back with,  “I stopped reading after the first paragraph.  I know you can do better than this.  Work harder.  Do better,” written across the top. She taught me to never say, “I don’t know how to do X.”  She corrected me every time and told me to say, “It’s not that I don’t know how to do X, I just haven’t learned how to do it yet.”  I feared her, not because she was scary or mean.  I feared her because I came to believe she knew me better than I knew myself!  Now I realize that she didn’t need to know me.  She understood the power of expectations and the human potential to do amazing things, no matter what your circumstances. 

It’s tough enough dealing with society’s low expectations, especially if you are a poor Black or Latino kid.  I remember trying to stay out of the sun when I was younger.  I didn’t want to be any darker than I already was.  No one on TV looked like me and I wanted to fit in.  One summer I put Sun-in in my hair.  A commercial told me that I could highlight my blonde hair.  I spent the summer with burnt  red hair, looking like Dennis Rodman.

In school, no one talked about college or more importantly, careers.  I would tell my principal that I was going to go to medical school to be a doctor and he would just pat me on my head and say, “sure kid.”  We were just marred in a sea of low expectations. 

The problem with Low Expectation Syndrome is that it is a deadly silent killer.  It impacts you without you recognizing it.  When I was in college, I wanted to continue my education and go to graduate school to study public policy.  My favorite political science professor suggested that I apply to the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.  I thought he was insane and said, “kids like me don’t go to Harvard, I’d get eaten alive there!”  He couldn’t talk me into it.  I was convinced I wasn’t good enough to get in, let alone do well there.  Never mind that I took four of his classes and he knew me well, or that I taught Intro to Political Science over the summer, as a senior.  Of course now I look back and I know that not only could I have gone to Harvard, I would have kicked it’s ass!  But at the time, I didn’t know I was suffering from Low Expectation Syndrome.  It took graduate school, working for the Governor of New York, and years working at Accenture before I truly got the syndrome out of my system.

I read an article where a University of Minnesota professor (Sherri Turner) and a postdoctoral fellow (Julia Conkel Ziebell) did an interesting study on the career beliefs of 97 inner-city adolescents.  Students were asked to rate how much they believed career focused statements and the results are telling.

The most interesting one was, “success is related to effort.”  If you think about that statement for a second, what do you think your own kids would say?  Would they agree?  I know my kids would.  As a competitive swimmer, my daughter got up at 4:30AM several times a week for years to practice before school.  She worked her ass off and graduate high school on a team that lost one swim meet in 30 years and she finished as the second fasted breaststroker in Arizona (we do swimming well in AZ).

Well in this study, only 24% of students believed that that statement to be true.   70% of them completely disagreed with it.  The authors say turning around these negative beliefs should be a major emphasis among school administrators.

No kidding.  This is an important topic that isn’t addressed much.  I will be posting much more on this subject in the future.