State of the school system
What programs do you think are the most important to focus on in the upcoming school year?
It’s not like I’m excited about our career tech program or any program that schools have. What I’m excited about is that our teachers continue to talk about engagement and what real learning looks like. What excites me is that our system is on a trek. We’re always trying to improve, we always try to get better, and I’m amazed with what our teachers end up doing and the product our students come away with.
How is eliminating the graduation test and replacing it with the ACT going to affect schools?
I don’t know that we completely know, but I will say I don’t think the fact that our students are taking the ACT in the 11th grade now will change dramatically, because the vast majority of our students already take the ACT... I think [scores] will stay pretty close to the same... You might be talking about a fractional difference. But most of our students, take the ACT, so I don’t think it’s going to be a big drop for us.
Under the new system, how are schools going to be ranked, and how are teachers going to be assessed?
They’re still working on that in the state level. I don’t think there’s an answer to that. I’m not sure the state knows yet...
We have a new teacher development system that we implemented in 2010, I believe. It’s more reflective in nature, in that we really believe if teachers are going to be evaluated, they’re a part of that process. They’re in the classroom every day, and so it needs to be a more reflective process rather than somebody going in and taking a 20-minute block and saying, ‘This is the kind of teacher you are.”
What differences can parents expect to see in the curriculum with Common Core?
We’ve been implementing those standards over the past couple years, and so it’s not new... We have a process in our system where teachers are an invaluable part of the curriculum process. Now, the standards are standards, so then out of that you develop curriculum. And so our teachers have been a part of that. They’ve had their hands on it...
We do support the standards in and of themselves because we do believe the standards are more rigorous than the past standards. So because of that, the conversations and the learning sometimes are not more, it’s deeper. And that’s what we’re working through: a more robust, deeper curriculum that involves critical thinking skills and problem-solving skills.
How will the new College and Career Ready Standards prepare students for the future?
Standards don’t prepare students, you know. Our teachers prepare students. The number one indicator of student success is the teacher. So, you can have the highest standard in the world, and if the teachers and students aren’t fully engaged in the work, it doesn’t matter what the standards are. We all know that...
Our teachers are committed to growth and our students’ learning and helping students be engaged in their learning. And when we do that and we continue to move students forward, then they’ll be ready for college when they go through our curriculum.
How can parents help their students adapt to the Common Core curriculum?
I don’t think it’s helping adapt to the standards. How can parents help their students? In elementary schools, they can read to their students every day. Have in-depth conversations with their children about their learning and about their day... I don’t think there are any special things parents can do to help their students with the standards, but there are certainly a number of things that parents can do to help their children be successful in learning...
When you talk about middle school and high school, that’s completely different... What I would say is don’t disengage. Continue to have conversations with your children. Be interested in the things they’re interested in.
What are the differences between the ACT Aspire test versus the Alabama Reading and Mathematics test for grades 3-8?
The main difference is that the Aspire is correlated to College and Career Ready Standards, where the ARMT was not... Those scores are really just indicators that help us know what to do with the student to help them stay on a track of continual improvement. You know, if someone makes a great score in third grade, it’s an indicator. It helps us. It’s not an end-all.