Stephen Colbert, Perfect for TFA

Maureen Miller (not sure who she is, but she's written alot about TFA on her blog) writes a blog entitled Blog and Deliver.

In a recent post, she outlines why Stephen Colbert (comedian-host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report) is a perfect candidate for TFA. She breaks her analysis down along the six qualities of TFA's Teaching As Leadership philosophy. This is the philosophy we are taught during Summer Institute and are then measured against throughout the year. Based on TFA's work, they are the six habits of highly effective teachers.

Below is Miller's post. I think she makes a good case. I'd like to see what Colbert's response is.

Blog and Deliver
Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Say what you want about Joel Klein's policies: He's definitely sharp (and sharp-tongued) at the dais. In that sense Stephen Colbert's his ideal foil--a better match for his wit than, say, Charlie Rose, who moderated an hour-long infomercial for BloomKlein. Several weeks later Colbert called out Joel Klein for the pay-for-As plan, which he said applies "free-market forces to knowledge." How's that for satire?

In response Klein joked (lamely) that Colbert's focus on "real serious discipline" is exactly what city schools need. I'm not sure he was being all that facetious: Colbert's character embodies all six qualities Teach for America defines as intrinsic to "teaching as leadership." So what can we learn about school leadership from Dr. Stephen T. Colbert, DFA?:

Set Big Goals. An exemplary classroom "big goal" should be ambitious yet feasible. The year's objective should be established on Day 1 and reiterated whenever possible. Small ceremonies celebrating progress should be conducted as often and as as possible, with immediate chiding for slacking. Colbert stays on top of the Nation with long-term projects like "What Number is Stephen Thinking Of?" and "Who's (Not) Honoring Me Now?" He is a master of tracking tools (e.g. "On Notice," "Dead to Me").

Invest Students and Their Chief Influencers. Early in the show's run Colbert identified key motivators who could cheerlead his platform (Stewart, obvi; Arianna Huffington, Nora effing Ephron). He established a "safe and welcoming environment" ("SWE") in which his constituents can test and shape ideas. They welcome his appeals to their better nature because he has earned their trust through past performance and personal charisma. Colbert mobilizes the Nation through peer pressure, which high-performing charter schools use to persuade stubborn holdouts to buy into classroom management plans.

Plan Purposefully.What better outline for backwards planning than "The Word"? Beyond that, the physical setting of a classroom should convey the urgency of the big goal. Colbert's self-conscious cult of personality template does that in spades. No element of the space should be left to chance: Each sector in the room should have some purpose, whether academic (the shelf) or motivational. Curriculum, too, should give students the impression that there are no surprises in the room. Aims should be explicit (strong chyrons), assessment should be frequent (end-of-week fireside chats), and assignments should be differentiated to reflect different learning styles in the room ("Ballz for Kidz," anyone?).

Execute Effectively. An effective classroom never goes off-message. Divide and conquer objectives: Assign room managers so you, Teacher, can focus on the vision quest. Colbert depends on Jimmy the director, Bobby the stage manager, Tad the building manager, and, off-camera, executive producer Allison Silverman, to do his "dirty work." He's the hands-on manager. It is never ambiguous who is in charge of the operation.

Work Relentlessly.Self-explanatory. Real-life Colbert confesses he hasn't seen much of his children since starting the show. In the two-odd years it's been around he's published a book and secured himself as a national icon all while producing and starring in 4 shows a week. According to Seth Mnookin in Vanity Fair, he even drives himself home to Montclair after the show!

Continuously Increase Effectiveness.Effective classroom managers are introspective. They can identify whether gaps in progress stem from internal biases, a knowledge deficit, or a lack of external resources. Rather than embrace his constituents' differences Colbert exposes his biases at the outset of every segment. Knowledge deficit not a problem when you do what you feel. And with the investment strategy in place he never has trouble securing what he needs to set the bar higher.

I'd really like the show to track Stephen and Melinda Gates Foundation's path to an "E.M.O." one of these days. They could call their flagship Freem ("it's freedom without the 'do'").