Distinguished Thoughts

PD in the News – November 2010

(11 pages: pp. 1-7 from news articles; pp. 7-11 from research and other reports)

News Reports of How Professional Development is Changing

The following are excerpts from selected local newspaper and other sources published during October.  In most cases, the excerpts are from articles that reported on broader issues; therefore, the excerpts are out of context. The link to an article may or may not be operative, depending on how long a newspaper chooses to maintain the article on its web site. 

Alamogordo, NM

“In her math classroom, [New Mexico Teacher of the Year and Chaparral Middle School math teacher Diana Fesmire] has a rule that says students are responsible for knowing more math every day when they leave school than when they arrive.  About five years ago, Fesmire became involved with Math Solutions, which helps teachers teach math more efficiently.  ‘There are these teachers all over the country who work together to teach teachers to teach math better,’ she said. ‘My colleagues don't have to be in my building or my hallway. I have colleagues that believe the same thing all over the country.’  Interested in helping other teachers become facilitators in the classroom, Fesmire said teachers are like students because they have to see something work with their own eyes. ‘Teachers are people,’ she said. ‘They have to see that empowering students works and that they can become the facilitator.’  Fesmire said to get great teachers in the classroom, world-class professional development needs to be offered rather than creating a punitive evaluation. ‘Spend money on developing the teachers that you have,’ she said. ‘Every year, every month, every day I'm trying to get better at my craft.’”  http://goo.gl/J1qq

Alabama

[Governor Bob Riley:]  “Ongoing professional development is a critical part of creating excellent teachers.” http://goo.gl/ymlK

Martin’s Ferry, OH

“The Martins Ferry teachers union has voted against participating in the Race To The Top Program, halting efforts to obtain $296,000 of federal funds… The federal money was slated to go toward teacher education, professional development and other ways to work on increasing the schools' test scores.”   http://goo.gl/mmEN

Wicomico County, MD

“‘The bulk of the Race To The Top funds in Wicomico County will be used to provide professional development for teachers and administrators on the new Common Core Standards and associated assessments; mentors for new teachers to ensure we have effective teachers in our classrooms; and for support to schools that have not met Adequate Yearly Progress measures,’ said Linda Stark, who is overseeing the development of the district's plan for the funds.”  http://goo.gl/sUUb

Palm Beach, FL

“A Palm Beach County charter high school plans to switch to a four-day school week beginning in January.  Riviera Beach Maritime Academy would be the first of the county's 32 charter schools with that schedule. None of the school district's traditional schools offer it or plan to do so… Teachers will still work on Fridays and have professional development and planning time on those days… Four-day school weeks are becoming more commonplace across the nation, as districts switch to truncated schedules to cut costs.  But last year Palm Beach County educators rejected the idea, citing logistical problems for families and concerns about students being without supervision one day a week.”  http://goo.gl/To5Z

Milwaukee, WI

“[The teachers’ union president] said a key provision for teachers in the new contract is language on professional development that he said will allow Milwaukee Public Schools to remain competitive in attracting teachers despite lower salaries than suburban districts.  In the past, professional development has consisted of occasional training programs and individual school in-service activities. The new agreement, [he] said, will be district-wide and focus on specific pieces of curriculum in which teachers might need more training to implement the new instruction.”

http://goo.gl/tysd

New Haven, CT

“As the city schools roll out a groundbreaking teacher evaluation system, the deadline is approaching for teachers who are on pace for either the lowest or highest rating to be notified…Teachers will be rated on a scale of 1 to 5 on three components: student performance based on standardized testing; teacher planning, preparation and classroom practice; and teacher values tied to professionalism and expectations for student learning.  Teachers with a rating of five would be eligible for leadership positions. Teachers who are flagged as needing improvement midway through the year will be given additional support and professional development. If there is no sign of improvement by the end of the year, those teachers will be subject to ‘immediate sanctions.’”   http://goo.gl/6ojO

United States

[Blog by Vicki Phillips, Director of Education for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation:] “Great teaching is advanced by great professional development. Effective teacher training takes time and commitment. Success in the classroom is not achieved with drive-by workshops that lecture teachers on the ‘what’ without the ‘how.’ Effective programs put the ‘how’ first and ensure that teachers can successfully apply it in their classrooms. When teachers acquire the necessary ‘how’ skills and practice and personalize them in their classrooms, the result is a highly effective learning environment that produces positive outcomes for their students.”

http://goo.gl/RxPa

South Carolina

[Frank Holleman, Democrat nominee for State Superintendent of Education:]

“We need to use research to see that we’re spending the money the most effective way,” he said. “We invest significant resources in professional development for teachers. I want to work to make sure those professional development opportunities are quality opportunities that help teachers teach better.”

http://goo.gl/JTKE

Martinez, CA

“[Rep. George Miller, Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Education and Labor Committee] said he and others are working toward giving states and districts more autonomy on improving poorly performing schools through reformation of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act…He wants to see better, more professional development for teachers. ‘To turn around schools, you need first-class teachers and principals, and I think the federal government can help,’ Miller said.” http://goo.gl/ZHRw

Newark, NJ

[Blog by Ada Beth Cutler, dean of Montclair State University’s College of Education and Human Services, providing “10 tips for the mayor” of Newark on how to use a $100 million grant from the founder of Facebook for the Newark schools:]

“5. Provide intensive, collaborative professional development for teachers. When teams of teachers learn from and with each other, sharing data and best practices focused on improving student achievement, a culture of learning develops that envelops the whole school. Most teachers care deeply about their students’ learning. Help them get the results their students deserve.” http://goo.gl/XJCZ

Chattanooga, TN

[National radio news report on reform in previously low-performing schools:] “Joe Curtis is one of the superstar teachers whose students tend to make big gains on the tests. Curtis has been teaching for nearly 30 years. Ask him how he became a good teacher and he doesn't talk about graduate school or professional development days. He talks about other teachers -- Talking to them, trying out their methods and watching them in action. It sounds like a simple idea, but in fact most teachers don't get a chance to do this, at least not in a formal or ongoing way. That's changed in Chattanooga. Joe Curtis has been promoted to a new position called ‘lead teacher.’ The principal arranges other teachers' schedules so they can watch Curtis teach.” 

http://goo.gl/CZ6W

Connecticut

[Excerpt from recommendations included in the report of the Connecticut Commission on Educational Achievement:]  “4.  Excellent Teaching - Ensure students, especially low-income students, have well-trained and highly effective teachers with effective professional development opportunities… Keep effective teachers teaching - Compensate, support and develop teachers throughout their careers to improve instructional practice and student achievement.  1 | Provide teachers with opportunities for effective mentoring, professional development and collaboration to improve instructional practice. Adequate funding must be provided… Why This Recommendation Is Necessary: High-quality professional development is critical to maximizing the effectiveness of teachers. Connecticut spends significant dollars on professional development each year, but there is no statewide process of collecting data on its quality or impact. Mentoring, coupled with time for teachers to collaborate, provides them with feedback on how to improve their instructional practice and teach their students.  http://goo.gl/YWCH

Lakeville, MA

“Apponequet's new principal, Jill Proulx, is listening to her staff and finding out what they'd like to see at the high school as the academic year progresses. She distributed an open response survey to the staff, and asked them to list their goals and concerns.  Thirty-six teachers returned the optional survey, and many of them said they want more of an opportunity to collaborate with other educators. Specifically, they would like common planning time with professional development within and across departments, with an emphasis on student learning.” http://goo.gl/BfLr

Santa Fe, NM

“Film critics may love Waiting for Superman, but teachers and their unions aren't quite as supportive of Davis Guggenheim's new documentary, which argues that our nation's school system is failing because teachers' unions protect bad teachers…Locally, several Santa Fe Public School teachers who saw the film said it moved them when it showcased the personal stories of five young students…whose parents were working to move them out of the public education system and into a charter school.  ‘It was very well done and it certainly had me teared up quite a bit,’ said Linda Archibald, a teacher at Turquoise Trail Charter School. She said the film emphasized that good teachers can make a difference in the academic growth of their students. What's missing from the equation, she said, are opportunities for professional development.  ‘I think teaching training and giving teachers time to work together and collaborate is really the key,’ she said. ‘It's teachers who make the difference with kids — not programs.’” http://goo.gl/Ozb2

Maine

“[Dick Durost, executive director of the Maine Principals’ Association said] he notices fewer and fewer members participating in professional development -- ‘the cornerstone of instructional leadership’ -- and attending the Maine Principals' Association fall and spring conferences.  ‘I worry about principals and assistant principals becoming more and more isolated from their colleagues,’ he writes. ‘I worry that they are not permitted, or do not permit themselves, to leave the building for worthwhile professional development. ‘I worry that administrators do not attend in order to save districts a few dollars.’” http://goo.gl/xhnm

Ft. Wayne, IN

“Ft. Wayne Community Schools, announced Thursday the district made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)…[Superintendent Dr. Wendy Robinson] ‘We will continue our emphasis on personalization, precision and professional development so we can maintain this upward trend.’” http://goo.gl/VUHN

Belen, NM

“[The principal of Belen High School] said High Schools That Work is the start of a five-year process to change the culture at a school that has struggled to meet Adequate Yearly Progress, a federally mandate for academic proficiency…[He] said teachers must change their attitudes to make a positive difference.  ‘Our teacher's feel they're doing a good job,’ [he] said. ‘But some aren't. For too long there has been little accountability for teachers. It's tough to get people to realize how important it is.’   [He] said the transition won't be easy.  The principal said some teachers are ‘spoiled,’ and haven't done everything required of them in the past. He said four out of 18 teachers showed up on a recent professional development day, a time set aside to train teachers additional skills.  ‘They have got to want to make it work,’ [he] said. ‘They need to either rewire, retire or relocate. If we don't change, bad things are going to happen.’  [He] said teachers need to differentiate instruction to reach every student.  ‘Do we have bad teachers? We have some,’ [he] said. ‘I don't want to say bad teachers. But we have teachers who do not differentiate.’” goo.gl/sveX

United States

[Column by Adam Strom, director of content development at Facing History and Ourselves:] “Equally important is high-quality, ongoing professional development. Teacher education has to go beyond classes in teaching methods or afternoon workshops on new instructional programs. The professional development practices most likely to have impact must include not just listening but also active learning where teachers struggle with content and ideas. Teachers also need mentors who can provide both positive and critical feedback—colleagues they can turn to as they work to take the big ideas from their resources and professional development and craft them into classroom lessons. This mentoring and continual follow-through with teachers is one of the hallmarks of the Facing History approach. Finally, if we are to have good schools and great teachers in every classroom, we cannot think about classrooms in isolation. Teachers themselves need to be part of a learning community, whether based within their own school, or better yet, within a larger network such as Facing History. During the year, when teachers in our network gather, they not only learn proven strategies from their peers, they connect with a larger vision of their role as educators of the future leaders of our world.  http://goo.gl/88dY

Idaho

“[U.S. Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma] thinks money sent to Boise State to enable professional development training is a waste of taxpayer money…The Oklahoma Republican senator lays out projects in each of the 50 states that he considers waste. In Idaho, he focuses on $400,000 for professional development of science, technology, engineering, and math teachers that came from the Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2010.  That money was intended to aid teachers in the Boise School District to continue their educations to increase student achievement.  Teacher development programs are offered through Boise State and are known as the “Idaho SySTEMic Solution” program. So why did Coburn knock the earmark?  In the same year Boise School District is receiving the money for continuing education for teachers, it also had to cut more than 30 teaching positions and several support staffers to balance a multi-million dollar budget deficit.  Coburn feels that development money paid while teachers are losing their jobs is a misuse of public funds.  ‘While the earmark‘s cost is small relative to the overall budget deficit of the school district, funding a pork project for professional development when those who would benefit are being laid off is a waste of taxpayer dollars,’ concluded Coburn.”

http://goo.gl/i8Ry

Ireland

[Column by Martin Murphy, managing director of Hewlett Packard Ireland, on reforming the Irish education system:]  “Too often we criticize teaching methods but I do not believe that we are giving teachers, lecturers and tutors across the entire system the necessary supports they need to deal with the evolving needs of today’s students. Professional development is an absolute necessity for our teaching community. As a matter of priority, I would introduce mandatory professional development starting from next September.” http://goo.gl/Y7kP

England

“Most teachers are ‘useless’ at ensuring that proper group discussion takes place in their classes, a leading teacher trainer has warned.  Neil Mercer, a Cambridge University education professor, says group work is a vital part of teaching because neuroscience shows the brain is designed to learn in collaboration…Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said: ‘This is an issue. Teachers want to learn these things and want to do them better. ‘But they have not been given the opportunity to do so in the quick-fix, one-size-fits-all approach encouraged by the National Strategies. ‘Teachers need really good continuing professional development in encouraging whole-class discussion and in promoting and supporting group work.’ Professor Mercer said group discussion work is a weakness for teachers throughout the world.” http://goo.gl/gQBg

Ontario, Canada

“At Brooklin Village Public School, principal Lynn Malandrino said professional development to allow teachers to collaborate with each other and share best practices and having a literacy coach in the school were some of the measures the school took on.  ‘The whole school focused on what it was our school needed for us to be successful.’  As a result, the school's scores went up at least eight per cent in each area. In Grade 6 math, the number of students at or above the provincial standard went from 50 per cent in 2008-2009 to 81 percent in 2009-2010.”

http://goo.gl/9Jxi

Nova Scotia, Canada

“October 22 is provincial professional development day in Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia teachers will be attending 23 different conferences in locations in the Valley, South Shore and HRM. To date some 7,000 Nova Scotia members have registered on-line. ‘The majority of PD sessions around the province are offered by the 23 professional associations of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union, which concentrate on curriculum areas and school levels,’ says NSTU president Alexis Allen…The NSTU president notes that some 520 workshops, keynote sessions and hands-on learning opportunities will be offered to teachers beginning on Thursday night and continuing until Friday afternoon… ‘Committed NSTU volunteers plan and deliver an astounding array of workshops and sessions for each professional association,’ says Allen. ‘Collectively, these conferences provide some 6,000 hours of professional development per year.’”  http://goo.gl/dvEg

Research

The Effects of Preschool Education: What We Know, How Public Policy Is or Is Not Aligned With the Evidence Base, and What We Need to Know  (88 pages)

 http://www.psychologicalscience.org/journals/pspi/pspi_10_2.pdf

“State [professional development systems] tend to put more emphasis on in-service training rather than pre-service qualifications for continued licensure, with 46% of states requiring ongoing training for center teachers, 40% for center directors, and 36% for small family child care providers. Any emphasis on on-the-job training (in contrast to pre-service training as noted earlier) places the burden of workforce quality on state and local systems of in-service support rather than on state institutions of higher education and its well-established infrastructure and capacity… Recent research suggests that targeted intervention to improve teacher interactions with children and instruction in academic skills such as the My Teaching Partner… increases effective teaching and children’s social and academic gains. Other research groups have demonstrated similar results—that coaching

teachers in interactions linked to instructional supports for learning and good implementation of curriculum can have significant benefits for children…Similarly, evidence from a professional development intervention project…suggests that ongoing mentoring and consultation increase effective teaching. Mentoring and training are very difficult to measure and to bring to scale, but they are relatively

easy to prescribe as the professional development answer. One critical component of bringing mentoring to scale concerns the ability of systems to prepare and regulate mentors; however, only three states have defined core competencies for

technical assistant providers…Ensuring there are educational specialists who can provide effective models of professional development to programs will require a different approach to in-service training. Coordinating across pre-service

and in-service in achieving these goals and paying close attention to evaluation of impacts will be essential.”

Team Up for 21^st Century Teaching and Learning: What Research and Practice Reveal about Professional Learning   (June 2010)

National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future 

Excerpts from the book are at http://www.nctaf.org/documents/TeamUp-CE-Web.pdf

In this book, the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future reports that its research found that “high performing schools improve student achievement with professional teamwork that has six essential elements:

“1. Shared Values & Goals: The team members have a common vision of student learning needs and a well-defined understanding of how their collective teaching expertise can be orchestrated to meet those needs. They clearly identify specific learning challenges around which the team joins forces to improve student achievement.

2. Collective Responsibility: Team members have appropriately differentiated responsibilities based on their experience, knowledge, and skill. They hold themselves mutually responsible for each other’s success, and they are collectively accountable for improving the achievement of every student served

by the team.

3. Authentic Assessment: Team members hold themselves professionally accountable for student achievement by using assessments that give them real-time

feedback on student learning and teaching effectiveness. They use assessments that are valuable to them – not because they are linked to high-stakes consequences but because they are essential tools to improve the team’s teaching effectiveness,

as measured by student learning gains.

4. Self-Directed Reflection: Highly effective learning teams establish a reflective feedback loop of goal-setting, planning, standards, and assessment that is driven by the learning needs of the students and the corresponding professional development needs of the teachers.

5. Stable Settings: Highly effective learning teams are not found in dysfunctional schools, but they can transform low-performing schools into successful learning organizations, if they are given dedicated time, space, resources, and leadership for their collaborative teamwork. Even the best teachers in the world can’t turn around a low performing school if they are working alone.

6. Strong Leadership Support: Highly effective learning teams are supported by school leaders who build a climate of openness and trust that empowers team members to make decisions on how to improve teaching effectiveness that are directly linked to student needs. This support must be balanced with appropriate, positive pressure to continuously increase school performance with improvements in teaching effectiveness that are explicitly linked to specific student learning needs.”

A Curriculum Management Audit of the K–12 Mathematics Program

In the School District of South Orange and Maplewood, New Jersey

http://www.somsd.k12.nj.us/somsd/lib/somsd/Phi_Delta_Kappa_International_Math_Audit.pdf

(released June 2010)

The audit was commissioned by the school district and was conducted under the auspices of the International Curriculum Management Audit Center of Phi Delta Kappa International.  The following are selected excerpts from the 169-page report, but readers will want to access pages 154-156 for the detailed professional development recommendations; note particularly those related to “Governance Functions” and “Administrative Functions.”

“Recommendation 4: Design and implement a comprehensive professional development process that provides for coordination with the curriculum management plan and for the use of student achievement data in the evaluation of the effectiveness of professional development and efforts.

A cohesive and coordinated professional development plan is committed to aligning a system’s resources to effectively and efficiently implement the district’s written curriculum and support training in instructional strategies to meet identified teacher and student needs. Such a plan also includes ongoing evaluation of professional development design and delivery to determine whether or not the training has led to improved student learning and achievement. An effective professional development program is coordinated at the district level, supported during implementation, and monitored to ensure institutionalization over time. Finally, the professional development program is focused and prioritized to make the best use of limited employee training, time and fiscal resources.

The design of the professional development program in the South Orange-Maplewood School District was found to be inadequate, lacking sufficient focus necessary to ensure improved delivery of the mathematics curriculum over time. Although a variety of professional development activities are provided, the lack of planning, guidance, and coordination has resulted in a fragmented approach. The range of instructional strategies observed in district classrooms was limited and did not reflect the district’s expectations. Student achievement data has not been used to evaluate the effectiveness of the district’s professional development program. There is no clear expectation within board policies that requires a comprehensive, coordinated professional development plan.”

Putting Data Into Practice: Lessons from New York City   (October 2010)

http://www.educationsector.org/sites/default/files/publications/Putting%20Data%20Into%20Practice_RELEASE.pdf

This 17-page report is from The Education Sector, an “independent think tank that challenges conventional thinking in education policy.  [It is] a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization committed to achieving measurable impact in education, both by improving existing reform initiatives and by developing new, innovative solutions to [the] nation’s most pressing education problems.”

The following are selected excerpts from this report. Persons referred to in the excerpts are Emily Weiss, chief of staff for the Division of Performance and Accountability, New York City Department of Education(NYCDE); Shael Suransky, deputy chancellor for the Division of Performance and Accountability, NYCDE; Joel Klein, chancellor, NYCDE; and Anne LaTarte, director of instructional and data tools for the NYCDE.

[p. 7] “[T]he operational structure of the school must accommodate teacher collaboration based on data. That means teachers must be encouraged to share data and talk about what they think it means. ‘We need to move to conversations among educators,’ says Weiss, ‘not just individual data analysis.’  That sort of collaboration—’shared accountability across multiple educators for the same students,’ Weiss calls it—represents a significant change in the closed-door culture of many schools. Historically, notes Suransky, teachers haven’t felt comfortable discussing student performance—regardless of whether those students were failing or succeeding.

Yet, Suransky says, instruction dramatically improves when student learning is openly discussed. This kind of atmosphere also encourages teachers to leverage

their individual strengths and leadership skills. ‘I can’t over-emphasize the inquiry teams,’ says Klein.  ‘Pointy-headed people in the central office can’t figure this all out … we want the teachers to come together.’ Accordingly, the city’s Department of

Education has shifted the emphasis of its data training from the technical—how to log in to ARIS, how to generate reports—to the practical, using data as a component of applied professional development.  Significantly, Weiss says, the training now starts from a specific question that teachers want answered.

… [pp. 12-13] But to what extent has the drive for data reached down to the students it intends to help? The evidence to date suggests it has far to go. As LaTarte notes, the ultimate goal of data analysis is not just to identify gaps in knowledge so that instructors can re-teach.  It is to help teachers understand why a student didn’t get something in the first place. LaTarte says that although teachers are getting steadily better at analyzing data, data analysis ‘is not yet leading to fundamental change in teacher practice or decision-making.’ Both ‘educator capacity and the system itself,’ she says, lack the means so far to transform learning.  An initial Teachers College study on the implementation of inquiry teams echoed LaTarte’s conclusion, noting that while the teams were successful in using data to identify student needs, they were less skilled in developing strategies to address those needs. Knowing where a student stands is just the beginning; teachers also need things like instructional materials and guidance from peers to act on that information. And, ideally, those resources and interventions are connected to the  issues identified in the data so that they are specifically relevant.’”

Evaluating Teacher Effectiveness: How Teacher Performance Assessments Can Measure and Improve Teaching   (October 2010)  

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/10/pdf/teacher_effectiveness.pdf

This 27-page report was prepared by Linda Darling-Hammond for The Center for American Progress, “a nonpartisan research and educational institute dedicated to promoting a strong, just and free America that ensures opportunity for all.”

[p. 1]  “This report discusses a promising approach to the question of how to measure teacher effectiveness. Specifically, it describes the ways in which assessments of teacher performance for licensing and certification can both reflect and predict teachers’ success with children so that they can not only inform personnel decisions, but also leverage improvements in preparation, mentoring, and

professional development….[p. 22] • States, school districts, schools, and teacher development programs can use the assessments to provide an evidence-based methodology for making systematic decisions about recruitment, employment, professional development, and career development, as well as an outcome database that can be used by school districts to manage, analyze, and report data about teacher outcomes, and to track performance across the continuum of teachers’ careers.”

[Excerpt from a column by Robert C. Pianta, Dean of the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia and the Novartis U.S. Foundation Professor of Education]:

 “We have shown that if you use a standardized observation of what teachers do that matters, it is then possible to engineer supports to target and improve those behaviors. Not surprisingly, we and others taking this approach have found that targeted systems of professional development that focus on teachers’ observed classroom behavior produce effective teaching and improvements in student learning.  Nor are these observational measures and associated supports too difficult or expensive to implement at scale. Unlike nearly every other method for observing teachers' behavior and interactions in the classroom, this approach has been reliably replicated in tens of thousands of classrooms. The work in these classrooms shows that scalable, standardized measures of teaching behaviors meet the dual challenge of both assessment and improvement.  So what’s the take-away for school districts or reformers? First, if you want to not only measure teacher performance, but also build a system that improves classroom teaching directly and systematically, observational measures are a good bet.  Second, don’t think that local, homegrown, observational “rubrics” or measures mashed-up from an assortment of approaches that look good to a committee will do the trick. If we are going to get traction on the core problem, then individual teachers, schools, and districts must all use quantifiable, non-subjective, proven-to-work measures. There is no shortcut. Local, bottom-up construction of such measures wastes time and is likely to fail.

Third, connect the observational metrics to both carrots and sticks. This includes sanctions for teachers who interact so poorly with students that they actually contribute to student disengagement and failure. But also link them to incentives, rewards, and most importantly, targeted supports to help teachers produce effective behaviors in the classroom.”   http://goo.gl/F81M

[PD in the News is compiled and disseminated by Hayes Mizell, Distinguished Senior Fellow of Learning Forward (formerly the National Staff Development Council).  He is solely responsible for the selection and format of content.  Send requests to receive or stop receiving PD in the News to hmizell@gmail.com ]