Why You Should Care Mr. Crabill has found quite the acolyte in Director Chandra Hampson. In the course of discussions over SOFG, she says his name over and over, "A.J .says we...." Now that's not too surprising given the direction the district is heading and that it is Mr. Crabill's work with the Council of Great City Schools is how we got here. But it appears that Mr. Crabill is working very closely with Hampson and we know she wields some amount of power over the majority of the Board. Mr. Crabill is going to continue to work with the Board as SOFG is instituted in SPS. In fact, his role may become more public as it did at one SPS Board meeting in the spring where he was on the phone during the meeting and suggested the Board stop the meeting to "self-reflect." I also noticed that in a district in South Carolina, when things weren't going to plan, he blamed the Board for not following SOFG to the letter. Look for that to happen here if Board members w
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The Central Office is building a system for teaching teachers instead of students.
This is, of course, consistent with the myth that "teacher quality" is the problem. Teacher quality is NOT the problem. The teachers, for the most part, are just fine. However they are overburdened and undersupported by the people who are supposed to be supporting them.
That is because she is not teaching a class ..... so it makes no difference to her.
That being said, the are only two literacy coaches for all middle schools. We have seen our 'coach' once. She arranges the TC visits but we don't get coaching. Where are the other 100+? In math? Are they part of the EDM fiasco?
Just out of curiousity, with regard to WW, how was writing being taught before? Was it being taught in any depth in grades other than 4, 7, and 10 by more than a few teachers here and there? Have scores improved or started to decline since the program began?
I know that principals have a lot going on, but this is their highest priority. Some of that other work could (and should) be delegated. I have long thought it would be a great idea if the principals' business, budget, HR, and administrative work were assigned to a sort of "School Business Officer". I would think that one School Business Officer could handle the work for three schools.
As for some teachers not accepting peer coaching very well, I guess they need some of those 21st century skills, eh?
EDM is IMHO better than what they had before, but our teachers still regularly talk about how hard it is to differentiate instruction. Especially with the mainstreaming of special ed kids, differentiation is critical.
Eric
I can't say as I've ever met the teacher who wanted a coach. Don't they all already have degrees? And continuing ed? If we have a hiring problem, it seems we should address that the hiring level. Or require specific continuing ed requirements.