Barbara Canavan is no stranger to Harford County Public Schools, having worked there for over 40 years. But her recent elevation to superintendent prompted The Dagger to ask about her plans for the school system in this turbulent time for public education.
State mandates in progress or afoot include: a new curriculum this year based on the Common Core State Standards; plans next year for online state tests requiring technology not uniformly available in HCPS; and upcoming teacher evaluations that will, for the first time, include student test scores. Amid these shifting sands, flat funding will likely continue for HCPS, along with teacher protests over a lack of raises in four out of the past five years.
Excerpts from The Dagger’s Q&A with Superintendent Canavan will be published in two parts. Part one appears below covering her leadership style and thoughts about the Common Core. Included are Canavan’s views on careers that don’t require a college degree, and a playground metaphor for adult expectations vs. student potential.
Leadership Style
When asked how they make decisions, school administrators often say they do what’s “best for kids” – but sometimes you don’t know what will be best. As an administrator, how do you make and evaluate decisions?
“I’m very reflective in how I make decisions and I rarely make decisions alone… I bring in the parties that need to be there to identify what the problem is, or the issue, or the concern, or the initiative, and ask them if they think that anybody else needs to be at the table…
I really do believe in working in a cooperative atmosphere. I don’t believe that anybody’s opinion is any more important than anybody else’s opinion…I’ve gotten some of my best ideas from a doe-eyed teacher or a lady that works three hours in the cafeteria.
You just never know where the best idea or the best advice is going to come from. And if you are open to that and you don’t really care who gets the credit, it always works out.”
HCPS is one of the largest employers in Harford County with over 5,200 employees, all of whom are paid by taxpayers, but they report to you. What would you like for the public to know about your management style – what do you expect from employees and how do you get it?
“I expect every employee to perform their duties with a high degree of integrity. I expect them to have a strong work ethic, and I expect them to keep in mind that we are here for the kids. It doesn’t matter what role you play, it doesn’t matter who you are, it’s about them. And it’s about making sure that they’re safe and they’re happy and they’re afforded every opportunity that they can get.
The way I make that happen? Well, first of all, if I’m going to hold them to a standard that is that high, I have to hold myself to the same standard…I have to be willing to collaborate, cooperate with anyone on any plane regarding any matter. So if I have a brand new custodian that really, truly wants to talk to me about a situation that they think could improve their job, I have to be available to that person. If it’s a parent, if it’s a child, if it’s a teacher, you really need to build relationships with everybody in the community that you encounter. Nobody is too big, nobody is too small.”
Community Outreach
HCPS has been criticized for being insular – parents, business people, some politicians complain that they are out of the loop. Do you agree that HCPS should do a better job of outreach and what will you do differently now that you are superintendent?
“I don’t want to be in a position where I’m going to criticize anybody that’s come before me because I just don’t like to do that…
My door is always open and my leadership team is there and poised to work with people, and to make sure that people are attended to.Sometimes that’s difficult because a lot of people feel that being attended to means they’re going to get what they want, or the answer will always be ‘yes’. And that is not always the case. You have to make decisions that are in the best interest of the school community and the best interest of an individual child, or an individual employee of a particular school. When you make those decisions, those decisions have to be thoughtful, and they have to be reflective and they have to have input from a lot of sources.
…My feeling would be we can build trust with the community…[they may not] agree with what we do but they may understand the reasoning behind it. That would be my hope.”
Common Core State Standards/PARCC Testing
The goal of the Common Core State Standards is to improve college and career readiness. Given that Maryland is firmly committed to the Common Core and implementation was mandated statewide this school year, what would you tell parents about the HCPS curriculum that’s based on the new standards?
“…I see the standards as opening doors for students to become everything that they can be. And if that’s a career associated with college and beyond, we want to make sure there are pathways for children to get there. If it’s a career that is not associated with college or maybe associated with an associate’s degree, we certainly don’t want to attach a stigma to that. Because not everyone desires to have a four-year degree or beyond, and there certainly is a great deal of pride that’s attached to careers that are not associated with a college degree.”
Regarding the new curriculum, is there a dramatic difference between the old and the new?
“…I think it’s more a refinement in the approach. It’s more rigorous. It’s more authentic. In the past, a lot of the teaching was broad in spectrum but not really deep in developing understanding. These standards are more narrow in their perspective and deeper in understanding.
So, an example might be – and this isn’t necessarily a real example but I think it’s an easy example to understand- if I am going to delve into the comedies of Shakespeare, is it necessary for me to read every comedy and understand everything about every comedy, all the characters… Or should I choose, as a teacher, as a curriculum specialist, comedies that were written by Shakespeare that might be indicative of his work, or nuances of his work, and really get into those comedies, and really talk about the language and really talk about the characters.
I believe that the standards purport a lot of work in problem solving, a lot of emphasis on working in cohorts… You know, we bring our strengths to the table, and our weaknesses are complimented by another person’s strengths. That’s how it works in a real world atmosphere… It builds cooperation, teaches children how to work in a group, it teaches children how to celebrate another one’s strengths and not feel that those strengths are going to diminish [theirs] in any way.
…I think people need to remember this ‘career and college ready’, you know, take the stigma away an individual, from a child, from an adult that doesn’t have a college degree.
…I don’t believe that there’s a hidden agenda behind these standards and I think a lot of what’s happened is the standards have gotten confused with the high level of accountability.
…I don’t know that as educators across the nation we did a really good job in getting people to understand what these standards were and what this accountability piece is, whether it’s the accountability for student assessment, or the accountability for principal and teacher evaluation. I think maybe there were assumptions made that people would willingly accept without explanation, or just with cursory explanation. And we’re coming to find out that that is just not the case.”
So there are the Common Core standards that were put together by the states, and the Maryland curriculum is based on those standards, and the PARCC tests are aligned with the standards, because the tests can’t be aligned with the curriculum in every school district?
“Yes. So what we did was a curriculum match. We looked at our curriculum to make sure that it was aligned with Common Core… and it’s a pretty good match! I think the biggest piece that has come out of the study of the standards and the alignment is that we weren’t challenging our kids enough. We didn’t have as many children avail themselves of AP classes for example…. The middle school sequence in mathematics was realigned and it’s much more rigorous than it’s ever been. The goal, of course, is that every child will graduate with a minimum of success in Algebra II. And that’s a pretty high standard. And we’ll get there.
I really do believe we’ll get there because I’m a firm believer that kids don’t know what they can’t do. It’s the adults that say: ‘I don’t think you can do that…it might be too dangerous for you to go off the big slide today’. Meanwhile, you turn around and [the kids are] already down…”
Clear and easily understood. No jargon. Thanks, Superintendent Canavan.
There is still a ways to go to recover from the past four years, but Barbara Canavan is the one to lead us.
Tomback was unfortunate in that he came to the system just as the county was feeling the negative affects of a down turned economy and given a budget from county government that presented a no win situation for whomever was superintendent. Putting that aside, Tomback (and his hatchet man Bill Lawrence), was a terrible administrator with lousy leadership skills. They created an atmosphere of fear and intimidation that undermined morale, drove good people to leave the system, and made other decisions that damaged the school system. Say it ain’t so is correct that the damage done by Tomback and his crony hires will take time to fix. Hopefully not too long.
No salary increase in 5 of 6 years if funding is flat again… David Craig is a piece of garbage
Make your voice heard at the polls.
Your post is the only garbage here.
That’s a fake Money Tree – I would never post to this thread because that comment has nothing to do with Ms. Canavan and any comment about Craig doesn’t pertain here. I nearly never use thumbs down but in this case oddly I guess I get to thumbs down “myself”.
What took decades to develop in HCPS is now down the tube. The major problem in the schools is not the classroom teachers but the egotistical administrators that try to feather their own caps buy creating more paperwork for the teachers and then brag that they are the ones who are “Inspiring their staffs to perform at the highest level.” School-based administrators with less than 10 years experience and administrator papers from a college makes them an “expert” I guess in this day and age. Give me an administrator who knows what goes on in classrooms and understands the importance of supporting his or her staff and looks for the positive in people.
Don’t forget the Instructional Facilitators who have no clue what goes on in classrooms either. There are Instructional Facilitators who have not been in the classroom since MSPAP was around. They have no clue about Common Core, so to justify their jobs, they heap more work on the classroom teacher. Faculty meetings on Common Core are presented by teachers while lazy If’s sit, listen, and collect their six figures. There are also Instructional Facilitators who taught less than 10 years in the system, became mentor teachers, then became Instructional Facilitators.
The teacher-to-classroom pipeline is very fluid and the growing gap between the two salaries is pulling a lot of teachers in that direction, or out of the county all together.
I’ve heard administrators and I.F.s claim that they were not very good teachers, and yet they are to evaluate them. The “coaching” analogy doesn’t work because many don’t coach – just judge.
Canavan can tout that she will hold herself to high standard all she wants, but as long as there are incompetent, self-serving and aloof administrators, there will be a disconnect between her message and how it trickles down into the classroom.
Hopefully, the “Good Ol’ Boy Network” won’t be too much for her to handle.
*Teacher-to-Admin pipeline
It seems to me that there’s a huge overlap between the duties of an IF and a Mentor Teacher. We certainly don’t need to have both positions. The idea of having a veteran educator serving as a coach and guide for fellow teachers is a good one. I think we should combine mentor and IF into one position. In order to apply for the position, you must provide a portfolio and video tape of you teaching a class. Since this person should be up to date with the latest techniques in curriculum and instruction, you are only allowed to stay in this position for 5 years and then that person MUST return to the classroom. If they want to do it again, then can reapply 5 years after returning to the classroom. How does that sound?
First off the IF positions are gone after this year. This has been known for a while. Second it sounds as if you took the PAR concept that a few school systems are using most recently, Baltimore County.
There are no plans to end the IF position in HCPS. Dr. Tomback rebuffed every effort to eliminate those positions and Mrs. Canavan has stated she needs the IF’s to continue teacher observations/evaluations and to conduct professional development programs.
The one at North Harford Elementary does. She is an amazing principal.
How about the IF there?
You are correct. The If at North Harford is just collecting her six figure salary. Does NOTHING!!!!
She needs to clean house with some administrators. “I expect every employee to perform their duties with a high degree of integrity. Well like I stated start with those who are suppose to be in charge of the school.
HCPS IS A BIG CIRCUS! IM leaving in July, I have given them 6 years and no pay raises, Im taking my skills elsewhere.
We don’t need you.
Im glad to know when you proudly hand in your resignation it will take you 6 more years to retire with benefits now. You saved the tax payers here a lot of money.
Don’t let the door hit you in the A$$. Put your skills to use elsewhere, just remember to ask “do you want fries with that?”
“Circus,” I’d take bets if you were a candidate for county teacher of the year you would have a different outlook. Am I right? Yep.
It really is “all about me,” isn’t it?
She can start with Church Creek, Abingdon.
in response to concerned teacher, the superintendent needs to start with the principal at Deerfield.
And then she can move on over and clean house at Church Creek Elementary. I guess teachers resigning in the middle of the year last year and this year hasn’t opened the eyes of anybody on Hickory Avenue. Such a shame that teachers at Church Creek are actually getting physically and emotionally sick from having to work under the current admin. I say forget the union and bring on a private law suit.
Same with what is happening at Abingdon. Use to be such a happy place…now everyone is scared of making a mistake and instead of being “coached” to perform better, she would rather intimidate and force you out.
I have children that are now in grade five at Abingdon and I must say, all of my interactions with this principal have been positive. She is very supportive, pleasant, professional, and my children really like her. She visits classrooms often and has done a lot for the school. My children visit a technology room and they have grown plants in an outdoor classroom that reportedly she weeded and cleaned over the summer. The building is clean and every year she works with Serfest to organize a spring clean up day. My children are girl scouts and have been invited to help out. Regarding teachers leaving midyear-who are they? I have not heard of any teacher being forced out. I am active in the PTA, visit the school often, so I would know.
While I am not an educator, I do support higher standards and quality teaching for my children. In any profession, there are high expectations. Before she came there was a campaign in the neighborhood against her. I personally got to know her and have formed my own positive opinion.
Sadly, this kind of problem is widespread. I have been with HCPS for almost 20 years, and I have NEVER seen so many teachers leave mid-year. The few who did usually were facing a catastrophic illness. I’m not sure how many have to go before Hickory Ave. takes notice. The “culture of fear” doesn’t benefit anyone. I am trying to figure out a way to pay for Harford Day for my own kids, and I’ve always been a strong believer in public education.
Our educators should not be calling their employer a, “circus.” These are the types of people who should not be employed at any capacity.
Hopefully if you come crawling back fpr a job, the human resource employee who reviews your application wipes their ass with it in the toilet. Are applications of employment printed on septic safe paper?
“The goal, of course, is that every child will graduate with a minimum of success in Algebra II. And that’s a pretty high standard. And we’ll get there. ”
Algebra 2 and Geometry were the minimum for a MD diploma as little as 10 years ago. Why are we now acting like that standard should be a lofty goal? Or, lets stretch a little and say we want every HCPS graduate to have trigonometry.
Just wondering if pensions were kicked back to the county there isn’t any money to maybe cover those our state is broke and what’s common core costing one number I’ve heard 2 million to upgrade technology so it seems to me that’s a big chunk of tax money to go towards raises or pensions but I hear nothing from the teachers wanting the numbers for this oh so wonderful common core . 2 million is just a small portion but I guess teachers have zero say to turn down common core because of the expense . I’m private sector no raise in 10 years glad to have a job finall have some benefits after 20 years and we don’t spend more them we have as a business and we have to have real results . I’m not getting it . This is crazy we had stretch spelling everyday math what next one in three drop out .
I don’t care how much gets done, some people will always complain or tell us how it should be. The county give money that is not enough. The schools get staffing that is not enough. Who’s fault is it? Not one person for sure.
There have been two principals in elementary school relieved of their duties in the past few months along with a former administrator turned PE teacher, as well as a few teachers who have done some bad things. There are good workers throughout the system. To generalize by groups serves no purpose.
I witnessed what I believe was a teacher leaving an elementary school who did not make a complete stop at a stop sign. Who can I speak with in the administration about this?
How about the sheriff’s department or the state police? School administrators cannot ticket teachers.
Not looking for traffic citations. Would prefer to see this person’s employment terminated.
If they can’t obey traffic law’s, how can they be held responsible to teach children?
So any teacher with a traffic ticket should be fired? What about the parents that I’ve seen with their kids in the car not come to a complete stop in my development…I guess if they can’t follow the traffic laws, their job as parents should be terminated and their children taken away right? It must be so tiring to be so judgmental and righteous….
I’m sure Harford County Public Education has a way of terminating teachers who have a habit of traffic violations.
Please, let us proceed in an orderly fashion, first question must be answered before a second question. If teacher’s can’t follow Maryland traffic law, how can they be held responsible to teach children?
What’s with people these days anyway? Someone may ask a question, and the question gets response to form another question from someone who was hot and bothered by the first question. Is that the social acceptance today? Answer the FIRST question.
Yep, the new generation helpless/wussy is definitely leading the in first place with arguemenative trait.
Even some Baby Boomer generation has picked up on it. Say for example you get a mason to build you a brick wall, and you notice then mention the fact a few bricks are crooked. Said person will “puff up” and proclaim “I’ve been doing this for XX amount of years, you don’t know what you are talking about.” What makes people do this?
Combined with the latest and hottest buzz words such as “intolerant” in response to a different opinion, we are in sad shape.
I just got a ticket last week for speeding. I guess I should lose my job!