In a post at Law21, Jordan Furlong claims that no one wants to ask whether Mandatory Continuing Legal Education programs work, i.e, that they improve attorney competence. He suggests there is no evidence. There is. But MCLE organizations do need to pay more attention to the evidence.
Evidence for the effectiveness of MCLE: New York Study of CPE for Accountants
New York implemented mandatory CPE for accountants in the mid-90s and the state legislature required a study of effectiveness as part of that implementation. The study was run by Arden Grotelueschen, PhD, University of Illinois who was, at the time, the leading exert in the world on continuing adult professional education. They spent a half million dollars and concluded:
So, what those of us who have been involved in MCLE for decades have always assumed - that attending CLE programs would increase lawyer knowledge levels - turns out to be validated. Who wants to argue some state or province should repeat this study just to show the same in law?
(As far as I can tell, the technical reports from this work aren't online anywhere, but I've got a scanned copy. Email me, dave.shearon at thrivinglawyers.org, and I'll send you the file.)
Evidence for the effectiveness of MCLE: Lawyer Response
Jordan also suggests asking lawyers about MCLE. Again, it's been done. Repeatedly. In multiple states. Over more than a decade. And the results are always the same: overwhelmingly positive responses indicating they approve of MCLE, they think it is making them a better lawyer, and they think it is making others a better lawyer. This data is online: Mandatory CLE Survey Analysis.
But, the competence criticism has some validity.
I agree with Jordan about the lack of purpose statements for MCLE programs. Basically, the writers of the Rules for the first programs back in the 80s appear to have assumed purpose was self-evident, and later drafters copied. However, after 24 years of leading an MCLE program, I can tell you that, in practice, the purpose evidenced by the behaviors of many state MCLE programs does not appear tightly focused on competence. Many (most?) don't approve the type of training most needed to improve competence.
First, lack of knowledge of the substantive law is not the cause of most instances of poor lawyering. In a Tennessee survey, only about 16% of lawyers picked that as the primary cause. A whopping 84% went with either lack of law practice management skills or lack of commitment, energy and engagement with the law. See: "Causes of Poor Lawyering". As a result of its study in this area (and, yes, at my urging), Tennessee changed it's regulations on MCLE accreditation to specifically approve both personal coaching in defined formats (a change that has not seen much use) AND adopted Regulation 5H.2 that provides:
2. Dual credit will also be granted to programs or topics:
a) designed to sustain or increase the capacity of attorneys to strive for and to achieve the highest, aspirational levels of professionalism, including programs aimed at increasing attorney well-being, optimism, resilience, relationship skills, and energy and engagement in their practices,Dual credit means credit that counts for either the Ethics/Professsionalism or the General requirement - it's the most valuable type of credit for compliance.
b) designed to help lawyers re-connect with, strengthen, and apply their values, strengths of character, and sense of purpose toward achieving outstanding professionalism,
c) designed to protect lawyers or help them recover from the deleterious effects on professionalism of stress, substance abuse, and poor staff, financial, or time management, or
d) designed to support the development of organizational cultures within firms, law departments, and legal agencies that recognize, support, and encourage outstanding professionalism.
In addition, Tennessee has now undertaken an experiment in acccrediting mentoring (voluntary) for CLE, and the approach requires substantial training for mentors around the powerful negative impact of law school on the motivation and well-being of law students, the aspects of that impact that continue and are reinforced in practice, and key skills and practices that can re-build, maintain, and enhance levels of commitment, energy and engagement that lead not only to satisfaction in the practice, but also to the highest levels of professionalism and client service.
So, MCLE works to build knowledge, but many MCLE jurisdictions should not only accredit programs focused on helping lawyers engage better with their practices, peers anc clients, they should encourage the provision and participation in such programs through explicit approval language and no-limits accreditation.
I recently read Steve Jobs biography. Very interesting in many ways. He was a huge Bob Dylan fan. Which made it interesting when Pandora served up "Forever Young", apparently written as a blessing for a child after Dylan became a father.I can imagine thinking that in my 30s with young children. Not so much today as they are young adults. Glad to see what they have become and more aware of my own mortality. And, yet, there's Bob Seeger singing this song with a children's choir at 91.
Anyway, Karen Reivich hooked me on videos of versions of great songs by great artists. Here's Bob, and The Band (who recorded with him), and Bob Seeger. So, enjoy. Which is your favorite?
I'm starting to dip my toe into the market for a new laptop (tablet?). I use several programs that are best available on Windows (Mindmanager for one). So, I'm
"Microsoft has stuck to the Windows Way. For over a decade, it’s been serving
scoops of vanilla to compete with Apple’s waffle cones of mint chocolate chip
with rainbow sprinkles."
Photo by ElizabethHudy, Flickr
"Navigating a No-Phone Zone" by Jason Gay in the Wall Street Journal for Friday, April 6, (http://j.mp/I4bNqJ) provides a great window into the experience of the gallery at the Masters with its "no phones" policy. That's as in no phones. They'll escort you out if you use one. Wow. And, cool! Mr. Gay describes the experience as "oddly satisfying." He says that fans "look at things - with their eyes. They solve questions - by asking nearby human beings. They come up with clever comments and somehow survive without offering them to the world in 140 characters." Love that last bit! He goes on to talk about having to make plans (meet under the big tree at 2 pm) and then having to stick to them! And he points out that, because they weren't looking at their phones, spectators got to watch, really watch, the event. They didn't miss key moments, or fail to make interesting observations from seemingly mundane moments, because they were too busy texting, tweeting, typing, or touching (the screen - not a person!).
This strikes me as a policy that promotes mindfulness. Right now, my personal working definition of mindfulness is: sustained, continuously re-focused non-judgmental attention to what is. In other words, it involves paying attention to some aspect of reality (one's breath is a frequent focus, but the Masters should work!) and continuously re-focusing on that reality when the mind wanders. Some Masters fans may be more non-judgmental than others: noticing the heat of the sun rather than constantly assessing whether it is "too hot" or even complaining about it. This sounds somewhat naive and detached from reality when I write it - as if being "real" requires being "judgmental" - but that's not my experience when I practice mindfulness. It also doesn't seem to be the result for highly-experienced practitioners. Rather, they seem more able to deal with the world as it is and less caught up in dealing with the world as they think it "ought" to be. (The next book I'm looking forward to reading in this area is The Emotional Life of Your Brain: How Its Unique Patterns Affect the Way You Think, Feel, and Live--and How You Can Change Them
However, as someone who loves me my smartphone, and because of my interest in education, I want to give a brief nod to an alternative view: smartphones actually make us smarter. David Perkins in Smart Schools
repositories of information that you have mastered, and the same for me and everyone else. As an incredible tool to augment our intelligence, is it any wonder we're "addicted" to our smartphones. The trick, as with any tool, is becoming a skilled master of its use. Right time, right place, right manner.
So, mindfulness? Yes. Person-plus intelligence? Yes. It ain't easy being modern. But it is a lot of fun!
What a great story. "Pocket Hercules" turns 100! http://j.mp/GTdrqD
Values: Thrown in prison for protesting oppression in India.
Resilience: Trained so hard in prison, the guards gave him a special diet to build stamina.
Happiness: "I never allow any sort of tension to grip me. I
had to struggle to earn money since my young days, but whatever the situation, I
remained happy."
For many, meaning is a critical component of a good life. We want to feel that we matter and that we are connected in some way to something greater or bigger than we are. I've run across two pieces recently that speak to this, one in the course of commenting on how the social structure and role of government in the developed world is and must change, the second in a piece on global warming. Here they are, with links. The pieces are well worth your time, but the quotes can stand on their own:
"Many Americans became (and remain) stuff-rich and meaning-poor. Many people classified as “poor” in American society have an historically unprecedented abundance of consumer goods—anything, essentially, that a Fordist factory here or abroad can turn out. But far too many Americans still have lives that are poor in meaning, in part because the blue social model separates production and consumption in ways that are ultimately dehumanizing and demeaning. A rich and rewarding human life neither comes from nor depends on consumption, even lots of consumption; it comes from producing goods and services of value through the integration of technique with a vision of social and personal meaning. Being fully human is about doing good work that means something."
Walter Russell Mead, "The Once and Future Liberalism"
http://the-american-interest.com/article.cfm?piece=1183
Powerful.
The second piece is an account of a lecture by Lord Christopher Monckton on the issue of global warming at Union College, Schenectady, NY. After the lecture, in response to a query by the writer of the piece concerning an event during the lection, Lord Monckton is quoted as saying:
“We shall lose the West unless we can restore the use of reason to pre-eminence in our institutions of what was once learning. It was the age of reason that built the West and made it prosperous and free. The age of reason gave you your great Constitution of liberty. It is the power of reason, the second of the three great powers of the soul in Christian theology, that marks our species out from the rest of the visible creation, and makes us closest to the image and likeness of our Creator. I cannot stand by and let the forces of darkness drive us unprotesting into a new Dark Age.”
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/03/10/moncktons-schenectady-showdown/
I take two points from these passages:
1. Connect with your bigger meaning, your purpose, in pursuing your efforts. Remind yourself (and others) of what it means to you occasionally.
2. Remember that many (not all, but many) with whom you disagree about policies may share many of your values and commitments to bigger purposes. This can be a foundation for disagreement without becoming disagreeable, and sometimes it can help open the door for new ways to move forward together.
Picture: "aisles" by Max Nathan, http://www.flickr.com/photos/_imax/4342135232/sizes/l/in/photostream/
Leadership. What's it made of?
Suppose your task was to get a crowd of Americans at a sporting event to really sing the Star Spangled Banner. How would you do it?
Think about it. Got your answer? Now watch these two videos - your day will be better for the few minutes, and you might have a new thought about leadership. I'll give a few thoughts below the videos, but feel free to add yours in the comments.
Sometimes leaders are out front singing, and success doesn't always come from perfection. It can come from letting our imperfections show. Sometimes leaders are on the sidelines, ready to step in and stand by us when we falter. And sometimes, we are all - the whole crowd of us in the endeavor - leaders. That's when magic happens.
Who are you going to pick up today?
This post is actually a response to John Merrow's Huffington Post column on value-added. Recommended - it's quite good!
First, I appreciate Mr. Merrow going to the source. I've known and worked with Bill for years and his work inspired my passion for education, leading ultimately to serving on the school board here in Nashville. His work is solid but the policy recommendations drawn from it are often wrong. Part of that is Tennessee's fault - we've had almost 20 years to learn how to help teachers add more value, and we've failed because we spent most of those 20 years fighting the data rather than working with it. Based on years of working with that data from a policy perspective and my work in positive psychology, here are my policy recommendations:
1. Recruit great teacher candidates. TFA has found that high grades and test scores from top colleges are not enough. We need better data on the qualities of character and outlook that make for great teachers, and how to select for them (I suspect there will be multiple patterns), but, in the meantime, look to resilience - especially optimism and a growth mindset - plus a passion for teaching.
2. Help teachers develop personally to become more resilient, more growth-minded, better at relationships, more focused on strengths - and show them proven ways to help develop these same qualities in students while teaching academic content. The Army is doing this for sergeants to help soldiers; why can't we do it for teachers? http://csf.army.mil/news.html This book I co-authored can help: http://www.smartstrengths.com/
3. Focus teacher professional development on teacher-led instructional improvement through "Lesson Study" or something very similar. http://www.shearonforschools.com/books_lesson_study.htm
4. Develop better leaders. Top young teachers want and deserve good leadership, and they want open, meaningful pathways to leadership. A great principal can help inspire and guide young teachers toward excellence and high value-add; a poor one runs great candidates out of the teaching profession. Many unnecessary obstacles have been placed in the path to leadership by legislators and administrators in the name of "improving leadership" - get rid of those that don't have solid, empirical evidence that they actually make better leaders (when in doubt, cut it out) and focus on leadership opportunities and mentorship to build on the base provided by the professional development and teacher-led instructional improvement cited above.
For more on the thinking behind these recommendations, see the chapter on "Positive Education" in Marty Seligman's new book <i>Flourish</i> or the white paper available here: http://www.flourishingschools.org/Positive_Education_FSWhitePaper.pdf