ASSET MAPPING AT HARRINGTON ELEMENTARY
PHILADELPHIA
Reflections by Sharon Fleming, Cornerstone Coach

Lalitha Vasudevan and Todd Parker joined us at Harrington to help with our asset mapping in mid-October. Even though the faculty was told what Cornerstone was and was not, they still had many questions.

The faculty received their own copies of the asset map three days before we undertook the process in order to allow for some self reflection. Because our district does not have faculty meetings due to our new contract, we had a voluntary meeting after school. Considering that the meeting was completely voluntary, we had a fairly good turn out, a group of approximately 25 faculty members.

If I remember correctly, there was silence when Todd and Lalitha began to explain the asset map components, the reasons for doing the mapping, and where we will go from here. The staff was asked not to sit with their grade partners; they wanted us to have a discussion with many different perspectives. We began the discussions with the “Practice of Teaching” which took a long time for my group because we tried to analyze the statement, reflect on our practices, then determine where on the scale we thought we belonged. Then we discussed; rather, we tried to convince others to change their ratings and gave reasons why they should change. Some of us changed our minds on some issues and some of us held strong! We went through the same discourse on the other parts of the asset map---“Student Learning” and “Learning Community.”

To show or to map our thinking, we placed the same color (red) dots on the asset map. As a whole group, we discussed what we actually saw on the map. We noticed there were a lot of dots concentrated in one area, and in other areas the dots were scattered across the scale. Then we discussed what that meant. In the case of our Student Learning map, the dots were rated low, but our Practice of Teaching map was rated high. We discussed how that is contradictory.

Toward the end of the session, we were asked to choose goals that we, the staff, would like to work on. Lalitha wrote them on chart paper. Our staff chose nine (9) goals which are impossible to concentrate on and be successful. They suggested we reduce the number to three (3) or four (4). The staff had to leave, so Donna and I had the privilege of choosing the goals. We thought we could use the goals that were not chosen as a way to achieve the selected goals. We also had to be realistic and pick ones that were achieveable.

As I look back, I don't think I would change anything. The people that came to the meeting may not have all of their questions answered concerning Cornerstone but at least they have a better understanding of what Cornerstone is trying to concentrate on. I hope that this short glimpse through our journey of asset mapping has given you a clearer idea of how one school, Harrington school, has done it.