As I glance to my right a colleague is tallying up the number of times our superintendent has said "some way, some how". A few rows back, another is keeping track of the number of overheads that has been shown. Bets have been made predicting the exact tally of these recurrent staples of our Superintendent’s Day programs. The tension builds as the end of record keeping approaches. We lean forward to hear his ending segue to another less than engrossing presentation. "Ladies and gentlemen, our O.S.H.A. compliance administrator will discuss ‘your right-to-know’ regulations concerning cleaning and chemical supplies’ safety." Those that haven’t been keeping score feel their eyelids dropping further and their minds wandering off to papers to be graded, plans to be made or errands to be accomplished. The few gamblers in the staff quickly calculate their bounty or loss and then resolve to try to stay awake. Courtesy and respect is shown while heads bob and whispers accumulate.

I am not saying that school superintendents aren’t capable of informing or inspiring staff. Ours has done that more than once. I am saying that too often repetitive programs are given and topical needs are not prioritized. The wants of the administration or state most often bump the needs of the staff and students. Yes, we can benefit from learning about "curriculum mapping, inclusion, differentiated instruction, cohort assessments and multiple intelligencies". However, many of us already apply the crucial elements of these programs, having learned them in college, and resent the assumption that we don’t. The senior colleagues who may not have been formally trained in them often believe they too incorporate the essence of the programs in their teaching and are most vocal in their disdain for having to hear "this stuff over and over again". Moreover, it seems to many that the gist of the statistics that we are deluged with represent the administrator’s rationale for a further critique of our competency rather than a facilitation of student achievement which is what the data were purported to encourage. Numbers do lie, and we are skeptical of their intent.