District Administration - February 2012 - (Page 37)

visits with staff from Cambridge when they held a training in Arizona, travel costs for teachers and administrators to attend that training, and online modules designed to firm up teachers’ understanding of their new expectations. Newly passed state education legislation (Public Act 10-111) contained a “move on when ready” provision—Arizona has passed similar legislation—that has given students who pass the board examinations at the end of their sophomore year the opportunity to gain entry into community colleges and state universities, McKernan says. The academy’s first such cohort could do so in 2012. “A lot of kids will stay on to take the upper division,” McKernan predicts. “Passing that is an indication of readiness for a more competitive college.” Greater Depth The Corinth (Miss.) School District began participating this school year, after several months of curriculum planning and training from Cambridge staff that grounded teachers in the learning strategies that are embodied in the curriculum. To date, teachers at Corinth High School have found that the structure of the curriculum frees them to go into greater depth on important skills and concepts, allowing students to develop more understanding, and more reading and writing have been involved in assignments. Classrooms have become much more discussion-oriented, with teachers leading facilitating and asking leading questions rather than delivering instruction. “Students are having to state opinions, they’re having to compare and contrast, they’re having to justify, and yet they’re having to back it up with information they have learned,” says Superintendent Lee Childress. “They’re having fewer multiplechoice-type tests and seeing more essay questions. Teachers are finding it takes more time to grade papers. … There’s not a lot of fluff in their textbooks; it goes straight to the facts, or straight to the subject matter. Students are having to read more carefully.” The extra work hasn’t caused push back from teachers. “They see the results we’re www.DistrictAdministration.com beginning to get, in many cases from children who have not been as successful as we would like in the past,” says Childress. These children have become engaged by the more in-depth, discussion-oriented curriculum. “That’s giving teachers some additional drive and motivation to do this,” Childress explains. Childress looks forward to the ability to benchmark exam results internationally. “That’s very important, for us to be able to look beyond this country, particularly in terms of making sure we are preparing children for college and for career readiness,” he says. “They are going to be competing with students not only across the United States but across the world. … As Marc Tucker has been highlighting, we have got to look beyond our country’s borders.” DA Ed Finkel is a contributing writer to District Administration. February 2012 37 http://www.eduportal.com/demo http://www.eduportal.com/demo http://www.eduportal.com/ http://www.eduportal.com/demo http://www.DistrictAdministration.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - February 2012

District Administration - February 2012
Contents
From the Editor
News Update
District Profile
Administrator Profile
Conversations
Product Focus
What Can U.S. Schools Learn From Foreign Counterparts?
A New Prescription for Fighting Drug Abuse
The Game Changer
The Legal Implications of Surveillance Cameras
CIO News
Mobile Devices Drive Creative Instruction
Products
Crisis Response
Professional Opinion
Problem/Solution
New Directions

District Administration - February 2012