from Ed Ford (950904)
Concerning my program - Responsible Thinking Process. Last year at this
time, only one school was doing it. That was Clarendon. Besides George and
LeEdna, we had two excellent people in the social skills classroom, Darleen
Martin and Becky McNany. We had a very supportive and actively
participating principal, Del Merrill. We had 90% percent of the staff using
the process, which by any standards, is high. The results continue to show
improvement, regardless of how you wish to measure.
Solano, which is the only other school involved in the initial program, is
now showing improvement. We did not have a supportive principal or school
psychologist. We had a very controlling person in the social skills
classroom, which is THE CRITICAL PERSON in the program. George was there
half-time (the other half at Clarendon)itor, and a recommitted faculty.
All other elements remain the same. In spite of the draw backs, it will
improve, greatly. George had one teacher who had been offered a better
paying job elsewhere and decided to stay at Solano because of the discipline
program.
Now there are a number of schools attempting this program. On the Navajo
Reservation (where I'll be this week), they are reporting great success in
the initial stages. A school in Nebraska and two in Michigan claim success,
as does one in Idaho. A school in Washington (state), in Texas, and quite a
few in Arizona are implementing as of this school year. Those in my state
include individual schools in both large and small districts, with one small
k-12 district north of Phoenix.
A national school bus company (with whom the company contracts with school
districts to have them bus their children) is initiating a program to have
their 33,000 bus drivers trained. This was decided after I was able to
demonstrat at four of their locations (where I trained their bus drivers) a
remarkable improvement in school bus disruptions.
There are several locations where it is not going well. At one inner city
middle school, they have failed to give the social skills classrooms (there
are two because the school has 1,300 children) the needed and recommended
support. Also, the three assistant principals are the kind that Bill had to
deal with when he was misbehaving. They are controlling and are not
following the process. The other is a high school which has not committed
the resources to support the program.
Right now my plate is very full. I will not let this program of mine get in
the way of two higher priorities. If I were to go elsewhere, my criteria is
that unless the school district is under 1,000 children, I would only go
where I can work with a seasoned educator, build an individual model, and
only where the principal is dedicated and really wants the program (has read
my book, seen the news video of the program, has read the literature, and
seems to want it very much) and there is a site based management philosophy
within the district, which would give the principal and staff control over
what happens in their school. School district adminsitrative people can be
somewhat disruptive, to say the very least. I'm presently working with four
superintendents who, as I mentioned below, have the needed integrity,
educational experience, and dedication needed for this or any other program.
The program as I designed it with the support and very helpful advice of
LeEdna and George is doing very well and has proved its effectiveness. I
wont run across many George and LeEdna's. One other at their level I've
found is Joe Sierzenga, elementary school principal in Morrice, Michigan.
These three are rare in any professional field. For this or any worthwhile
program to succeed, as I mentioned above, it just needs people with the
integrity, educational experience, and dedication that I've found in
Clarendon and am now beginning to find in other schools as well. Best, Ed.