Comments on: Teachers Lead the Way To Better Schools In Los Angeles http://neapriorityschools.org/2010/03/10/teachers-lead-the-way-to-better-schools-in-los-angeles/ The National Education Association working to turn around lower-performing schools and raise academic achievement Tue, 31 Aug 2010 01:21:48 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 By: Robert Arias/Element. Educ. http://neapriorityschools.org/2010/03/10/teachers-lead-the-way-to-better-schools-in-los-angeles/comment-page-1/#comment-173 Robert Arias/Element. Educ. Fri, 30 Jul 2010 15:43:09 +0000 http://neapriorityschools.org/?p=599#comment-173 After reading the article, "What happens in Vegas...Should happen" (NEA Today, vol.29, #1, Aug/Sept. edit), I came to the conclusion that the current "vibe" on "transformation of public schools" (paraphrasing the NEA editor, Doug Walker), is nothing more than a "modified" version of Chartership schools. Probably the only (and major) exception is the difference in who is "managing" or "directing" the program - TEACHERS. For the past ten years I have heard and participated in trainings for professional growth in Professional Learning Communities (PLC's), or what has been commonly dubbed as "collaboration," but it has never been extended beyond the practice of "reviewing data," and planning SMART goals (at my district). Finally, I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel! - When the site administrator and their local school staff, combined with local community representation (PTO, etc...) come together as EQUALS at the "drafting board" of their School Site Council (SSC), with the purpose of discussing, proposing, selecting and implementing a school based program (i.e. site based management) WITH THE BENEFIT OF THE STUDENTS IN MIND; the truism of "collaboration" is in effect being displayed. Each community has its own identity and its own peculiar set of "needs." Who better to address them than the folks who interact with the children on a daily basis? - This is simply "common sense" in practice. Now...we need to put our "money where our mouth is" sort of speaking. If the NEA and it's chapter members join forces to bring this to its fruition (perhaps in another 10 yrs), THEN we will begin to see the "tide" change, and all this focus on "outcome base education" will have a paradigm shift as well - from a set of numbers, to a well developed and nourished community of well prepared and educated (in the true sense) human beings. After reading the article, “What happens in Vegas…Should happen” (NEA Today, vol.29, #1, Aug/Sept. edit), I came to the conclusion that the current “vibe” on “transformation of public schools” (paraphrasing the NEA editor, Doug Walker), is nothing more than a “modified” version of Chartership schools. Probably the only (and major) exception is the difference in who is “managing” or “directing” the program – TEACHERS.
For the past ten years I have heard and participated in trainings for professional growth in Professional Learning Communities (PLC’s), or what has been commonly dubbed as “collaboration,” but it has never been extended beyond the practice of “reviewing data,” and planning SMART goals (at my district). Finally, I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel! – When the site administrator and their local school staff, combined with local community representation (PTO, etc…) come together as EQUALS at the “drafting board” of their School Site Council (SSC), with the purpose of discussing, proposing, selecting and implementing a school based program (i.e. site based management) WITH THE BENEFIT OF THE STUDENTS IN MIND; the truism of “collaboration” is in effect being displayed. Each community has its own identity and its own peculiar set of “needs.” Who better to address them than the folks who interact with the children on a daily basis? – This is simply “common sense” in practice. Now…we need to put our “money where our mouth is” sort of speaking. If the NEA and it’s chapter members join forces to bring this to its fruition (perhaps in another 10 yrs), THEN we will begin to see the “tide” change, and all this focus on “outcome base education” will have a paradigm shift as well – from a set of numbers, to a well developed and nourished community of well prepared and educated (in the true sense) human beings.

Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

]]>