After taking a good look at Gilroy’s elementary schools,
principals and district administrators are working together to
provide more training and professional development for teachers, a
major need that emerged during recent evaluations.
After taking a good look at Gilroy’s elementary schools, principals and district administrators are working together to provide more training and professional development for teachers, a major need that emerged during recent evaluations.
During the past few months, principals have been completing self-assessments of their school’s performance, using the Academic Program Survey, an evaluation that allows schools to rate themselves and their district on nine components that the California State Department of Education has identified as critical to student success.
“We use APS as a framework because many academic professionals have reached the consensus that if these nine components are implemented, students will succeed,” Superintendent Deborah Flores said. “Why aren’t we fully compliant in all nine components and what will it take us to get there?” she asked.
After principals finished evaluating their schools, Flores and district administrators visited each school to evaluate how well the self reports matched up with their observations.
The results for the district’s eight elementary schools were presented at a Dec. 6 board study session. Middle and high school results were presented at a Dec. 13 session.
“We want to align your (principals’) work with your (the board’s) goals,” Flores said. “That’s what this is all about.” She asked principals to select three or four focused steps to fully embrace before the end of this school year.
The needs presented by the schools will allow the board to allocate appropriate funds when it begins planning its budget in January, said school board president, Rhoda Bress. The APS site validations “have allowed us to begin a conversation,” Bress said.
The state budget for next school year comes out in January and the board will take into consideration the needs of the schools when planning its budget for the 2008-2009 school year.
Several principals agreed that their teachers need more training in Houghton Mifflin Reading, the reading/language arts program used in the classrooms.
Eliot Elementary School principal, James Dent reported vast improvements in his students’ performance due to more targeted approaches to addressing individual students’ needs. Although the district has provided financial and moral support necessary to achieve his goals, he said his staff needs additional training in Houghton Mifflin Reading.
Antonio Del Buono Elementary School principal, Velia Codiga, also cited many positive outcomes of the APS but said that her site has not been adequately trained in Houghton Mifflin Reading. “We need more support in ongoing instructional assistance and support for teachers,” she said at the study session.
During the APS evaluations, El Roble Elementary School principal, Leigh Schwartz, also discovered a need for “continued staff development and financial support.” He said his teachers were not fully armed with the material they needed to implement the language arts program in the classroom.
“The district is responsible for providing that training,” Flores said. “It’s our responsibility to make sure classroom teachers have the resources they need.”
Flores and the school board listened attentively for three hours as the principals presented their findings. The results of this process will be used to amend schools’ site plans to incorporate specific strategies for accelerating the academic performance of all students.
