Longtime CSD Teacher, Administrator, And Innovator Retires

One of Bill Clinton’s first NH stops in his 1996 re-election campaign was Steve Rothenberg’s fifth grade classroom at the old Walker School. The former president’s campaign had heard about the young teacher’s efforts to computerize his classroom and about the Walker Talker, a community newspaper fully reported, written and published by “Mr. R’s” students, and he wanted a firsthand look.

“At that time Steve’s class was way ahead of the curve when it came to service learning and technology in the classroom,” said former Walker School Principal Clint Cogswell, who noted that Mr. Rothenberg would scrounge donated computers, repair and update as needed and then distribute to Walker students who otherwise would not be able to afford a computer. “He was thinking way, way more than two steps ahead of everybody. That’s why the president came to Walker.”

Mr. Rothenberg, who went on to become the Concord School District technology coordinator, and later an assistant principal to Gene Connolly at Concord High School and CTE principal of the Concord Regional Technical Center, retired last month after 28 years as a CSD teacher and administrator.

In 1997, Mr. Rothenberg’s class at Walker was one of the first public school classroom’s in the country to have a computer for every student, using 25 used Apple PowerBook Duo 230 laptops purchased through an $8,000 Continental Cablevision grant. That year Mr. Rothenberg was recognized as New Hampshire’s (NHSTE) technology-using teacher of the year which put him in the pool to be selected, which he later won, the international “Outstanding Technology Using Educator” by the International Society of Technology in Education .

He became CRTC principal in 2008, and has since been a driving force in the development and promotion of career and technical education in New Hampshire, serving as president of the NH Career and Technical Administrators association, representing CTE as a Community College System of NH trustee, and testifying before local and national legislators in support of CTE funding, expansion and innovation.

“My focus as an educator has always been to help students to develop a sense of their own direction,” he said, “and a strong sense of agency and curiosity that they can apply to a college and career plan that they develop and they own.”

The Walker Talker project is a good example of Mr. Rothenberg’s educational style, as he taught writing, collaboration and technical skills by challenging his students to report, write and publish a newspaper that included school stories, community news and local business advertisements, and was delivered monthly to 1,100 neighborhood homes. True to the pattern he would set throughout his career, the Walker Talker project was layered with academic, technical and service learning opportunities, along with a healthy dose of career awareness and exploration. Every student was expected to contribute, and industry mentors at the Concord Monitor, The Harvard Crimson and the Solloway & Hollis law firm worked with students to refine content, facilitate publishing and provide career pathway exploration opportunities.

“I’ve always seen my job as opening doors for kids that help them to see far beyond their immediate realm,” he said. “So I’ve tried to encourage them to be more worldly about understanding their choices when planning for college and careers.”

As the district’s technology coordinator from 1999-2006, Mr. Rothenberg led the entire CSD technology infrastructure, establishing the computer skills curriculum for grades 1-5, overseeing the rapid expansion and classroom integration of technology throughout the district, and developing strategies, procedures and professional development to maximize efficiency and keep pace with growth. As CRTC principal for the past 14 years, he has worked to evolve the center’s 12 career pathway programs from a vocational education focus to a true college and career preparation process where students gain technical and employability skills, work-based learning experiences and industry and college credentials, as well as the ability to self-design learning experiences in their senior year to jumpstart postsecondary plans.

“Students come to us with somewhat raw individual visions,” Mr. Rothenberg said. “The CRTC teachers help them channel that vision into their own well developed and achievable future plan, and then help them to execute on that plan.”

Mr. Rothenberg brought his academic and pedagogical expertise to CTE at a time when it was transitioning away from vocational education to career pathways, adopting a more rigorous and comprehensive approach to learning. During his 14 years as principal, CRTC enrollment has gone up 50% to an expected 750 students this September from nine regional school districts, while high school enrollment across those districts has declined by almost 20%. The CRTC’s innovative, competency-driven assessment model started in his 2nd year, called SPUR (Student Performance upon Understanding Review), has been published nationally, and forms the basis of student achievement at the CRTC. (SPURs are a combination of a job performance review and a report card where students, in quarterly 1:1 meetings with their teachers, can present evidence of their learning and make a case for their earned grade.)

Salem Career and Technical Education Center director Chris Dodge has been working in NH CTE with Mr. Rothenberg for the past 14 years, often collaborating on a statewide level to evolve CTE into a true college and career preparation program aligned with NH’s workforce development needs and opportunities.

“CTE was in its infancy when we started our careers, and it’s still gaining traction,” Mr. Dodge said. “I think it’s huge that we’ve been able to really move the needle in terms of changing people’s mindsets.”

CTE’s experiential, career-focused learning model is starting to gain traction in mainstream comprehensive high schools, who are under legislative pressure to find ways to better align K-12 education with the career pathway goal of establishing a reliable pipeline of college- and career-ready high school graduates to feed the state’s employment needs.

Within this environment, NH Career and Technical Education has blossomed from its “voc ed” roots to become a paradigm of 21st century college and career preparation that provides students with meaningful career assessment, exposure and credentialing before they graduate high school.

“Steve has been a tireless advocate for elevating the public perception of career and technical education,” said Jeffrey Beard, NHDOE deputy state director for career and technical education. “During his time as president of NHCTA he made sure that the positions of CTE administrators were represented in various work groups, steering committees, and advisory councils, and worked to communicate how CTE could be the catalyst for larger scale statewide workforce development.

As he moves forward, Mr. Rothenberg plans to continue working to evolve the career-pathway and competency-based education movement within the state’s comprehensive high schools and CTE centers as an educational consultant and advocate. The Rothenberg Consulting Group is there to help school districts and CTE centers wanting to evolve their current position at the classroom, school and district levels.

“Steve has a deep understanding of how competency-based education's founding principles … can be put into practice in a variety of settings,” said Mr. Beard. “He also appreciates the practical concerns of classroom teachers and administrators, bringing an authenticity to his interactions which signals to those educators that they have the capacity and ability to implement competency based education in their context.”

While he will miss day-to-day contact with students and teachers, Mr. Rothenberg said that he will continue to work to improve student experiences and outcomes.

“Ultimately, I want my career to be framed in terms of more students succeeding,” Mr. Rothenberg said. “My focus as an educator has been on finding ways to improve their immediate and long term success. In the end, as in real life, not every kid got there … but the new systems are in place and more are getting there. This work needs to continue.”