recounts the year he spent teaching at philadelphia's largest high school. investigative journalist jeff cohen and john chase on how former illinois governor rod blagojevich misused state government and was arrested by the fbi in how rod blagojevich toxins out of of of the governor's office and into prison. .. >> another atlantic writer, national correspondent robert

cab land, reports -- kaplan, reports on the intersection between geography and international relations in "the revenge of geography: what the map tells us about coming conflicts and the battle against fate." washington post associate editor bob bob woodward recounts congress and the obama administration's attempts to restore the u.s. economy over the last three-and-a-half years. look for these titles in bookstores this coming week and watch for the authors in the near future on booktv and on booktv.org. >> up next on booktv, former north chicago superintendent of schools patricia pickles presents her thoughts on how to improve the american educational systemment -- system. [applause] >> first, i thank the business leaders for allowing me to share my visit -- vision in education.

i also want to recognize some of the groups or organizations that i provide service and support, aka, alpha capita alpha -- kappa alpha, the urban league and the urban league guild, and the national association for the mentally ill. thank you for being here. i am patricia pickles, the author of "are you in a pickle? : lessons along the way, student performance and achievement gaps." i am the first college graduate from if my immediate family. when i was in high school, i was tracked into general classes, i was tracked on the basis of where i lived, my zip code. i was tracked on the basis of what my parents did or did not

do, and i was tracked on the basis of my race. i'm extremely passionate about insuring that every student in every classroom in every school across america has an opportunity to be successful, to have choices. how many of you have children in school, raise your hand? grandchildren? nieces? feoff fews -- nephews? cousins? [laughter] then education is your business. education is your business because a substantial amount of tax dollars go to public education. education is your business because we prepare workers, we prepare them for you. right now almost half of the

students who go to higher education as well as to the world of work are reported as not being ready for the real world. there is something we can do about it, and that's why i'm here today. but i think, first of all, we really need to recognize that educators have challenges in front of them. the foreclosure, the joblessness, we are in a recession. some say that we're headed back to sputnik era. others say we're headed back towards the great depression. all of these factors 'em pact education -- impact education. but you know what? when you reconcile your books at the end of the month, when you balance your books, i bet you also feel the impact. but in order to have a stronger

economy, we have to have a strong education. strong education equals a stronger economy, and that impacts all of us. so today we're going to talk about some of the challenges and also what we can do about it. education is your business. facts we need to face. 30% of students drop out of school. 30%. the united states ranks number ten in terms of industrialized nations in college completion. now, with more students being poor and with higher education as well as high school students not being prepared, how does that impact us, and why is the dropout rate so high?

is it because we aren't really making school rigorous enough? are we not challenging students? or maybe we're not making it relevant to their real world experiences. or listen to this, just maybe, just maybe we're underestimating the value of relationships. now, when you ask secondary teachers what the problem is, what do you think they'll say? >> [inaudible] [laughter] >> okay, it is money. but they're going to blame -- >> they usually blame the parents for the environment the child comes from. >> they're going to blame early childhood and elementary. that's what we do in education. how many educators are in the room? okay. we blame early childhood and

elementary educators. now, think about this. 46.2 million people are classified as poor. 52% of adults 18 and over aren't married. all right? early childhood, elementary. who do you think they blame? >> parents. >> very good, the parents. they blame the participants. parents. now, think about it. we do know that depending on economic level students come to us at various levels. you see the big difference between the lower socioeconomic status versus the higher? these are the experiences that students come with or either they don't. who do you think the parents

blame? >> [inaudible] >> that's a good answer. but remember i said 52% of families 18 and over are not married? it's the father's fault. [laughter] and the gap persists. the same blame game. in the meantime, we are hurting. now, education is the only profession that i know of -- well, other than politics -- where we blame one another. it's the rich versus the poor, white versus black, it's yellow versus brown, it's male versus female. and the beat goes on with the

same blame game. one thing that i am very proud to say is that i still consider myself a teacher. and i think many times we're forgetting what it feels like to be a teacher, and we're lacking in terms of providing the support that's needed for success. failing to incorporate critical thinking skills, problem solving, skills that students will need in the real world in order to be successful. evidence-based proof point student performance can be improved. these are some of the solutions of what i bring to the table is that i've actually been a teacher, i've actually been a principal, i've actually been a superintendent of schools, and i am proud to say that i've never been in a classroom, a school or

a district where student performance did not significantly improve. and that's what i share in my book. the answer is listed, what it takes everything from specific skills, tactics and techniques to partnerships that really make a difference. before i go any further, one of the things that i notice that we do in education, we forget to ask the students, and the students have the answers. so bear with me, and let's hear from the students for a moment. [background sounds] i think. [laughter] >> [inaudible]

it's just warming up. >> no, this is university of texas. how do i get to my -- >> [inaudible] the link below. >> no. darn it. well, it's not working. here. >> [inaudible] >> yeah, obviously. that's okay.

>> [inaudible] [laughter] >> you'll take my word for it, but you know what? [laughter] there is nothing like hearing it from the students themselves, because we forget to do that. and what the students say is that you aren't challenging, um, you aren't challenging them. you aren't allowing them to be creative. many educators today, we grew up with typewriters. they're using wi-fi, they're using technology. many of them say that they never even have an opportunity to read a book through technology. and why? maybe we aren't providing the support and the training that we need for the 21st century. we're trying to do things the way that we've always done it. and in education we are slow to

change with all the facts that i presented before you. >> [inaudible] >> sure. >> with all of the changes, um, that you see, we're slow to change in education. we don't want to change. >> [inaudible] >> okay. [laughter] in terms of solutions, one of them is partnerships. and as we look at partnerships, most districts actually disguise partnerships as one-way receiving, as one-way gifting. now, think about it. if we're in a recession and with the large budget cuts and with the failing schools, why aren't

we really looking at true partnerships? and when i say true partnerships, what would it look like, integration with businesses? child care, public schools, work force development all coming together and providing indigent children and families with full-day child care at no expense to families. what would that mean? it would mean that we would have more students actually prepared for school. it would mean that we would have more families involved with the new executive order that was signed, i expect to see more emphasis on partnerships. and even though partnerships with education is a noble thing to do, what's in it for you? what's in it for you?

two-way partnerships; creditability and exposure. credibility on the web site, credibility at meetings, word of mouth, newsletters, press releases. creditability and exposure means more traffic to your business. that's what true partnerships look like. right now networking and the one-way giving and receiving is not going to work in today's society. not with the real needs that we have. sometimes i think we forget how powerful words are and communication skills. words can make us laugh, words can make us cry, words can be

healing, and words can make us want to hurt someone. now, if you doubt what i'm saying, think about it. think about one of your favorite movies when you go to the movies. what emotions come out? and that's not even real. our students are real, and the words that we use can either build or kill a relationship. common vocabulary, wouldn't it be powerful in every field, in every business you have your own vocabulary. i can remember going to work for the texas education agency, and i swear for the first month, nancy, i didn't know what they were saying. they were using all of the acronyms, and i just didn't get it. and then i realized when i talked to my kids one day, i couldn't understand what they were saying. i'm like, oh, i've transferred

over. [laughter] okay. so the vocabulary that we use, just think about it. what are the most powerful words in your profession? right now we're going to focus on education. now, i've given you three answers, see? three answers. at your table i want you to come up with another word that you think would be very powerful in education in problem solving so that regardless of what you put in front of a student, they'll know what to do about it because they know what that word means. okay, go. you have one minute. [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [laughter] >> what'd you come up with? >> with we got it -- we got it. >> all right. are you ready? >> yes, we came up with the word create -- break that down -- [inaudible] make it work, turn around, be able to explain it and be able to tell us how we would apply this in the real world, what types of -- [inaudible]

how can we use this in the real world, apply it. >> good answer. >> [inaudible] >> okay. [laughter] >> we came up with think creatively. and then we didn't expound upon it quite like they did. [laughter] >> okay, okay. >> we came up with, or they came up with resolve, and then that led to options, and it also led to process. so that they can break it apart -- [inaudible] >> very good. >> we came up with create, similar to the other table, and we thought about the whole implementation place. don't just create it, but implement it. still talk about it, but be about it. how can we get this to the next point, how can wet get a -- we get a to b and so on?

>> okay. well, there you are. create, define, formulate. that came up quite a bit. these are the words that students need to know in order to be successful. and think about it, they -- i'm not just talking about putting it in front of them. you probably even have another column for they put it in their own words. think about it. we're not only talking about word walls in the classroom and the school, how could it become a schoolwide, districtwide initiative where you're using all these words all the time? you have to create the environment for learning. i use what i call the paps model. ten years ago, along with the no child left behind act, came disaggregation of data, breaking data down by race, by gender, by

socioeconomic status. and in order to do that, you need a continuous learning model. you need to change the system. so pretest, assess, analyze, plan, teach and support. you support in order to sustain the success. now, whatever business you're in i assume that you also assess, analyze, plan, and then you execute your plan. it's not that different in education. the global achievement gap, critical thinking and problem solving. if we did more of that, it wouldn't really matter what assessment you put in front of a student, because they're going to do well, because they know how to think, they know how to solve problems. and those are the strategies that they're going to need in the real world. also curiosity, imagination and

creativity. we don't do enough of that. so who's, who's going to make the next invention if we don't teach that in school and allow them the opportunity? my vision, again, is that every child in every classroom will be successful. what i want you to do at this point, i want you to stand up. stop eating your dessert. [laughter] just stand up for a moment. you see, it's really not about me, it's about us. because all of us together are better than any one of us alone. so i just want you to think for a moment, what do you have to

offer? what can you contribute? we all have something that we can contribute. i'm going to start off, and then we're just going to go around. i am dr. patricia pickles, the author of "are you in a pickle? : lessons learned along the way way," students performance and achievement gaps i share in this book what it makes to move students to high levels of learning, the techniques, tactics and strategies are evidence-based. and i share those with you. >> wow. [laughter] okay. i'm harlan oaklaus, and i have a number of years working in business, and i'm a business consultant. i can, i think there are a

couple of things i can share. i can share communication skills. i saw on the slide here one of the things that you had up was oral and written communications, and i think i'm a pretty good communicator. the second thing that i could share with students and colleagues is i've spent a lot of years interviewing people, and i could teach people how to, how to get jobs. >> well, i'm nancy oaklaus, and i volunteer with the league of women voters in the austin area. i helped bring together a community conversation about public education. there were business people in the room as well as educators,

as well as policymakers, as well as parents and people from all sectors in our community. and we were focused on what we can do to make education better. and that conversation is ongoing. >> i'm selena schoville, i'm a retired university educator. i have expertise in the assessment of learning and learning programs. >> i'm jim walsh, i'm a lawyer here in austin, and i have the opportunity to speak to educators either through the written word or spoken word every day and influence them positively. >> i'm jan cosmo, my background's health care and real estate. i can help students with a strong work ethic and the benefit of helping others in being successful and giving back to community.

>> i'm carol fields with vintage i.t. services, and we support quite a few nonprofits in town. um, for instance, ally austin, we provide free educational opportunities there for people to learn about the arts. >> i'm ted sith, and through my day job as co-owner of a publishing company with jim, we communicate to school administrators best practices throughout at least texas and beyond. as a parent of an 11-year-old especially and a 15-year-old to a degree, i can every day -- [laughter] help each of them learn. and i think that role is one that probably each of us can do to some degree. >> absolutely. >> i am dr. linda wilkinson, and i have worked both in the corporate world, real estate and

education, and i think i can -- i've lived in and out of both of those worlds all this time. and i think it is very important to teach not only people in education, but children that they can grow up and, basically, they can do anything that they want to if they have those skills to take with them that they can maneuver their way between different fields and different areas, that there's always a door. when one closes, another one opens. and teach them how to be resilient in today's hard economic times. >> entrepreneurism. >> good afternoon, i'm yvonne, a retired educator with the texas education agency. as a parent, i have observed that we are not preparing our students or our children to compete in the global market, and i really would like to see more of our students major in

science, math, technology and engineering. also as -- [laughter] i'm sorry. also as a retired educator, i have prepared myself for a second career, and that is as an etiquette consultant. this is one area that's missing with most children, most professionals or whatever. they do not know how to put their best foot forward and present themselves in a professional way. >> my name is mark edelman, i've been in purchasing management for about 30 years, and i guess a strength i could give children is the art of negotiation, but not where you just beat the other guy, but where you do a win/win situation where both

sides win, and you both walk away from the table feeling good about the act that you -- or goods or services you just negotiated. >> i tutor second graders in reading. >> i'm ashley nichols, i've got a background in english and communications, and i can help young women and young men to use the love of literature and the written word to build that creativity and that thoughtfulness into their life. >> i'm david bailey. my background with four years at west point and serve years in the military, i think i can offer children a good example for leadership and courage. >> my name is gary aronschek, and i take care of sales and marketing for a service company here in austin.

what i enjoy the most is working with start-ups. i think there's a lot of common sense issues that come up, make sure they get started on the right path, and, you know, business plan or whatever. i think you can talk math, different subjects like that, bring that type of knowledge that students need to know from the early years, how it works and how it impacts the later years also. >> i'm gwen mcdade, i'm a certified public accountant, and i'm a mother of a high schooler and former pto prime minister, and i can share -- president, and i can share involvement in my child's education, and i can share my successes in the business world. >> i'm bill rummons with a local community bank, and as a community banker, we are in the business of helping our communities achieve their goals and successes, and that's what we do. >> i'm dean bushmiller with expanding security, and i teach five days a week to

technologists online, and i try to challenge other instructors to be better by giving them new and creative ways to educate their students and push them to the next level. >> thank you. >> [inaudible] >> the job of educators is to prepare students for the world of work, for higher education or for the military. let's not forget that as a viable option. the challenges are great, but the opportunity is even greater. together we can make a difference, and it can start right now. when i think of education, i think of opportunity, i think of hope, and i think of partnerships. the journey of partnerships can begin right now, right here

today, and you've already proven that. what lies within us is greater than any challenge we may face. before you leave here today, i want you to shake the person's hand to your left -- after you finish your dessert -- and to your right, and let the journey of partnerships begin today. if you are interested in purchasing "are you in a pickle? " our nation is at risk, and we are in a pickle. lessons learned along the way. students' performance and achievement gaps. i will be outside, and if you have further questions, as a matter of fact, the floor is open for questions. >> i have one.

>> say more about the culture that is required in schools for maximum student success. >> the culture, i talked about the vocabulary, the words we use, i've talked about, um, i call it power talk. and it's being positive. it's watching what you say. it's monitoring what you say. and in the book i give specific examples of language we use now, and i actually got the words from educators. real words that we use now versus what we could be using. because every time we communicate, we're sending a message, and communication is about more than reading and writing. it's about what you say, what you don't say. it's about your body language. so the culture, it's rich, but you're also supportive of one another.

you're results-driven, and you know how to get there. when you go to the doctor, for instance, i always say one of the biggest myths about education that we don't share with parents is assessment versus testing. when you go to the doctor, what is the first thing he does? >> [inaudible] >> asks you questions, take your temperature, take your blood pressure. why? why does he do these things? >> [inaudible] >> trying to find out what's going on. >> that's right. for determination. so our assessment versus teaching -- teaching is like assessment is the diagnosis. teaching is remediation. so a culture that all students can do it, all students can reach benchmark. we aren't talking about the highest score or, um, standardized testing.

we're talking about benchmarks. all students should be able to reach benchmarks that are going to be necessary for them to be successful in the real world. so the culture is positive, the culture is supportive. um, i know it's popular among some now to put down the teachers, but i think that we need professional development to support them. i think that we need, um, walk-throughs on an ongoing basis and providing feedback. have you ever worked for anyone that you didn't necessarily care for? the or higher education -- or higher education, a teacher that you did not really have a relationship with? do you notice how hard it is to learn? all of that is a significant part of learning, and i talk about real examples of good experiences with teachers versus one that was not so good right there in the same school. i talk about the impact of men.

i've always prided myself on being able to really get students on the right page. there was one student that stands out. now, this was an exemplary school, but there is one student that stands out in my mind, and i couldn't let him act up because then the other students would think that they could do it. and i don't care what i tried, it wouldn't work. and one day i call up the, um, gentleman over the ymca. him showing up and his behavior totally changed. ever since then i involved more men. i talk about how to get more men involved in education. right now a child can go through school and not even have a male teacher in elementary. that's an impact. and then we wonder why do they act up, why do they misbehave? maybe they're looking at education as being feminine.

maybe we need to read more to them instead of playing ball. so there are different ways of building that culture. yes. >> i have one question for you. um, oh, sorry. thank you. my question to you is this: if you had to do it all over again and be superintendent of schools all over again, how would you approach training for teachers overall in the district so that the this type of culture of involving parents, involving the community, involving one another's spouses bringing a world of experience from the outside, involving the business world in what we do in schools changes? what would you put in place? >> um, i actually did put professional development in place that impacted the

students. it wasn't just professional development, it impacted the students. let me give you an example. when we receive test data, what do we usually do? we look at it, we go a little deeper now, teachers, we're having teachers look at it. but have you ever thought about what it would mean to sit with the student one-on-one or in a small group, and i mean everyone in the school whether the principal, the assistant principal, the counselor, the librarian, they're taking part in this. that's how you develop a culture of learning. when they see that everyone's invested in them. and it makes a difference. the one issue, um -- i didn't have an issue with it, but others may have felt challenged by it -- when you bring schools to exemplary and students are

making significant achievement whether it was a superintendent, as a superintendent or as a principal, my problem is, well, it's not a problem, challenge. you can't expect to have an exemplary school and then treat your teachers second class. so i put myself on the line, and i will admit it. i would take them to the best restaurants, i would fly them to new york for cutting-edge staff development. you can't expect them to yield extraordinary results and then treat them like they're not really worth the investment. any other questions? >> last question. >> so i have two boys. i have a 1-year-old and then one

that's like a month old. and it seems to me that the state starts school, you know, kindergarten at 4 or 5. and by that time it seems like there can be a giant gap in between a student whose parents have focused solely on them reading, writing, singing to them, and then the other parent who works three jobs and is trying to get by and doesn't spend any time with their kids. so wouldn't it be -- what's your take on having something instilled earlier with smaller groups to where there's not such a gap for students to start off with? because when they do start off with that big gap, the teachers have to teach down to those levels, and that's what those kids that have had instrumental parents are not being challenged, and then they're acting up and not learning as much. what do you think about an earlier start time for -- i know it's not going to be funded, but -- [laughter] >> no. i gave you one example in terms of partnering for the early start time. no expense to parents. but it does take integrating

services. and coming together. i think that there needs to be more professional development and training opportunities for parents because even if they don't have the time, there are techniques that they can use. for instance, they can label everything in their house -- >> [inaudible] you're not going to get that from every parent. >> i think it may go back to, um, something i heard at table. find out what they care about. everyone needs someone to care about them. it only takes one person. may not be the parents. but everyone needs someone that cares about them. and it can make a difference. i remember a kindergartener who, um, i thought he didn't foe his way home -- he didn't know his

way home. and once i did more investigating, i found out he didn't really want to go home because his parents were alcoholics. you have to find out what they care about, and i really miss young people because you have an opportunity to mold and shape young minds so that they can be active participants in society. but it also means knowing who they are, knowing them as people and understanding the growth process. as a principal, i thought it was cute -- of course, i disciplined them -- when two little boys got in a fight over me. [laughter] now, i never forgot them. see, i didn't realize how much the students were doing for me. i never forgot them. when they were in third grade, i went back to see them thinking that they were going to be all over me. by that time you know how boys

are. so they weren't all over me. that was a lesson for me. i'm pouring my heart out, and they're like, no, don't be hugging on me and stuff now. [laughter] so it's making that connection, understanding. it doesn't have to be a parent. i would make home visits, i would even walk some of the students home, and you find out so much. i found out that some parents it's not that they don't care, i didn't know his mother was in a wheelchair, she wouldn't walk. there's just certain things you find out. i can remember in high school one of my students pulling me aside and saying miss, miss, don't be hugging and stuff like that in front of my friends. okay. i get it. so it takes one person, just one person to believe, to believe in you. that's it, just one. >> okay.

[applause] >> you're watching booktv on c-span2, 48 hours of nonfiction authors and books every weekend. >> the u.n. is us, your government and mine, and it can be as powerful as these governments want it to be. and sometimes we talk about the u.n. as "it," as "they," distancing ourselves. by doing that, we're giving the governments who are ultimately responsible for action or inaction in some of these situations an alibi, an alibi and blaming the secretary and the secretary general -- [inaudible] but