Tony Bott/T.Net - Welcome, Dr. Tirozzi. Thank you for honoring us with your "virtual" presence. I am Tony Bott, a teacher since 1992, and founder / co-director of Teachers.Net. In brief, this site was created to support free and open dialogue among teacher colleagues from all over the world, under the premise that a "virtual community" could increase teacher development personally, operationally, and intellectually - thus, increasing teacher retention and job satisfaction. I recently (1999) graduated from UCLA's Educational Leadership doctoral program having studied this very premise as the basis for my dissertation. The sample of over 700 teachers indicated significant and specific benefits in participating in virtual community to support their operational and intellectual development. If you're interested in the specifics, let me know - I'd be happy to forward a copy of the entire dissertation to you (print or electronic.) I just wanted to introduce myself, give you some of my background, and welcome you to our community. WELCOME!Kathleen/CT - Teachers.Net & Administrators.Net are honored to host Dr. Gerald Tirozzi, Executive Director of the 46,000 member National Association of Secondary School Principals. NASSP includes representatives from over 50 nations. Dr. Tirozzi is a former Assistant Secretary of Elementary and Secondary Education, US Dept. of Education. A native of Connecticut, he served as Commissioner of Education there from 1983-1991, attracting national recognition for successfully implementing programs and policy that raised expectations, standards, achievement and teachers' salaries. Tirozzi began his education career in 1959 as a science teacher at Notre Dame High School in West Haven, Connecticut. He has also served as superintendent of schools, principal and guidance counselor, and from 1991-1993, Dr. Tirozzi served as President of Wheelock College in Boston, Massachusetts. Tirozzi holds a Ph.D. in Educational Administration and Higher Education from Michigan State University. He earned an M.A. in Guidance and Counseling and a B.S. in Elementary Education from Southern Connecticut State University. He holds a Six-Year Certificate in Educational Administration from Fairfield University in Connecticut.
Kathleen/CT - Moderator is Dr. Anthony Bott, co-creator of the Teachers.Net family of Internet resources for educators worldwide. Tony's work as a counselor with the YMCA led him to pursue and receive his teaching credential. After teaching for several years in elementary school classrooms, Tony then began work toward his doctoral degree at UCLA. He recently completed his dissertation, "Teacher support through virtual communities" and received his doctorate degree (June, 1999). Tony been a guest speaker at the White House Internet Summit (1998) and plans to continue working on teacher support and teacher "networking."
Kathleen/CT - Dr. Tirozzi, where would I go to see the best model for secondary school education? (where in OR outside of the US)
Dr. Tirozzi - There is no one best model. However, I would bring your attention to NASSP's publication "Breaking Ranks," which identifies 6 key elements which have the potential to dramatically transform the high school environment. You may want to look at schools in Singapore and Korea where they have received outstanding results in math and science.obee - Dr. Tirozzi, this is Gary Obermeyer, Learning Options, Portland, Oregon. I help not-for-profit organizations build online networks of educational innovators - mostly the type who are trying to make schools more learner-centered, engaging, and joyful places. Increasingly, I'm seeing good work being pushed aside in the interest of higher test scores. It's clear that your constituents (secondary school principals) are feeling this pressure as much as anyone. From your vantage point, what strategies/approaches do you see that give us hope that schools will remain more than test score machines?
Dr. Tirozzi - Without question, schools and students need to be evaluated in a more holistic way; however, it is necessary for secondary educators to agree on what students should know and be able to do at the end of the high school experience, and put into place an appropriate assessment system to judge performance. Standards and accountability are timely and necessary to ensure equity and excellence for students. Principals should be fully involved in the discourse regarding standards and assessment--else others will do it for them and to them.Roxann - over the next 10 years technology will be more integrated into the classroom, how do you envision the future of technology in the school?
Dr. Tirozzi - Classroom teachers will be delivering a significant number of courses on line, which will dramatically reshape the school day and year. Professional development will be enhanced by the potential to share resources, ideas, concepts throughout the country through e-mail, video conferencing, chat rooms, and on-line courses. However, I feel strongly that with high tech will always come "high touch."Kathleen/CT - Dr. Tirozzi, how would you modify/improve teacher preparation programs? AND What is the most effective way to evaluate teachers?
Dr. Tirozzi - Kathleen, initially I would require a liberal arts degree with a major in the subject to be taught, require an intensive internship program, and ensure that all first-year teachers have a mentor/support system. It is imperative that principals and teachers have clearly articulated, mutually agreed upon goals and objectives with a focus on realistic expectations for students' academic performance. The key to good evaluation is to use the information gleaned from an evaluation to develop professional development experiences to promote continued improvement in the teaching-learning process.Tony Bott/T.Net - What should be the primary function of support organizations, real world or virtual (such as Teachers.Net), concerned with supporting teachers?
Dr. Tirozzi - To the extent possible, these services should be coordinated and coherent with the specific needs of teachers, and such services should not be provided as activities which are not related to a teacher's needs. Service providers need to do their homework up front to ensure that their products and services reflect that which the teachers actually need and would find most helpful.Mary/PA - I'm an Elem. Ed. person, so I may have a slanted view, but it does seem to me that Elementary Educators have done more changing and adapting to better meet the needs of students and how they learn than the Secondary level educators. Is my perception correct and if so, why would this be true? Would teacher preparation have anything to do with it? e.g. Not enough attention to how learning occurs because so much time has to be spent on the content of the various disciplines.
Dr. Tirozzi - Mary, I think your observation is fair. Elementary teachers have a more general education background and work with students in the more formative years of their education (K-6). A high percentage of secondary teachers tend to be "academicians" who tend to focus on their respective subjects as opposed to being more "student centered." Personally, I feel there has to be more direct and sustained dialogue between elementary and secondary teachers to gain a better understanding of and appreciation for what they do in their respective grade level assignments.Dr. McGuire - Hello Dr. Victor McGuire here director of the National Association for Beginning Teachers, if you had to write a mission Statement for the 21 Century of Education what would that look like?
Dr. Tirozzi - A mission statement should be brief: Therefore, promoting equity and excellence for ALL students--with no excuses. Failure is not an option!Bob - Dr. Tirozzi - With the local budgets already strapped for funding, will the Feds be making money available for Community Resource Officers and School Resource Officers and will it be made as an entitlement or competitive funding?
Dr. Tirozzi - The potential is definitely for federal assistance. Consider the following programs: Safe and Drug-free Schools, 21st Century Learning Community, Title 1, and Gear-Up. Some are formula driven and some are competitive grants. You may contact the US Dept. of Education for more information on these programs.Roxann - Dr. T, you have attended private schools for your education, and worked in public education,( I was one of your teachers in New Haven, CT ) what do you think were the differences for you personally?
Dr. Tirozzi - Roxann, great to hear from one of my "old" teachers from New Haven. I attended ONLY public schools throughout my whole education. Private schools select and retain the students they select; whereas, public schools accept and retain all the children of all the people--and that is the way it should be!Tony Bott/T.Net - If I may pose another question to Dr. Tirozzi: Has the issue of "safety" in schools, specifically the increased danger to teachers and students been exaggerated by the national press, focusing too much attention to isolated events? Has the issue of violence in schools been overplayed in recent months, or is there a valid concern there?
Dr. Tirozzi - It is difficult to agree that the issue has been overplayed when you consider the tragic events of the last school year in which students and teachers have lost their lives in our nation's schools. While these may have been isolated incidents, the catastrophic nature of them has greatly alarmed parents, teachers, students, the general public, and the media. Let's sincerely hope that incidents of this sort are NEVER repeated in our nation's schools which should always be safe and orderly environments which are conducive to teachers teaching and students learning. I wish everyone of you a safe and successful new school year.Bob R/CA - thanks. Perhaps as much comment as question - this morning I was contacted by a teacher who had been called to task by an administrator at her school for posting something critical of her school on the chatboard. She lamented the fact that the chatboards help her prepare for school, as well as find support etc. What are administrators doing as a national group, to cohesively address the place of Internet forums in their schools, and do administrators have a right to control what teachers post outside of the school?
Dr. Tirozzi - We support and promote the use of internet forums as an appropriate forum as a teaching-learning process and to provide teachers with a format which can allow for necessary and timely intellectual dialogue. To the best of my knowledge, a significant number of administrators do not attempt to control what teachers "post outside the school."Kathleen/CT - Dr. Tirozzi, who has served as your personal hero, mentor? A former teacher, perhaps or ??
Dr. Tirozzi - A high school teacher greatly transformed my life and led me in a new direction. In addition, I had the experience of working with a football coach who taught me the essence of teamwork, collaboration, and the pursuit of excellence.Tony Bott/T.Net - Thank you Dr. Tirozzi, and thank you Teachers.Net community.
Dr. Tirozzi - Thank all of you for a stimulating and instructive dialogue. Let's do it again!
Kathleen/CT - Dr. Tirozzi, We deeply appreciate your time and willingness to be a pioneer with us on the Internet. We hope this is just your first visit with us. Thank you to all and good afternoon/evening.
Tony Bott/T.Net - We shall! Thank you, Dr. Tirozzi!
This session was sponsored by Apples 'n' Acorns School Supplies http://applesandacorns.com, source of school materials from Ideal, Creative Teaching Press, Frank Schaffer, Carson Dellosa, Edumart, Instructional Fair. E-mail Lori for personal service:appnacorns@aol.com
