District Administration - January 2011 - (Page 23)

manufacturing, the legal world. It’s been important for us, for two years in a row, to roll out new products, a new product line. And I like to talk in that type of fashion. So what is it that our client base is asking for? What are the specific needs from the client’s perspective, rather than our own? As an example, we created Secondary Success Centers for overage middle school kids. It is one of the specialized types of schools that we created. We bring middle school kids to a high school setting, where we’ve created a school within a school for them. Only they know that they’re middle school kids. But they are in an environment where they are around ‘like’ kids of ‘like’ age but with a very strong, very robust social network of protection for them, providing an acceleration pathway for them to land in the school where they already are in attendance. I’ve never heard about something like this. Carvalho: Yeah, well, that’s why it was in- novative [laughs]. After the 51 percent, 52 percent reduction in administrative spending and headcount downtown, now we have a lot of free space. So I created two schools in the downtown building. One is a primary learning center, which houses kindergarden through second grade, the other, iPrep Academy, a high school, is a hybrid model between teacher-and-knowledge-facilitated instruction in a very rich digital, virtual environment, where I played with light, time, space and sound as elements for a new type of school. The school is a childcentric inviting environment. Everything is comfortable. Everything is cool. Everything is colorful. There is background music playing. Our Autism Laboratory Schools are also defined by their environment: sensory rooms with highly trained teachers, coupled with psychologists, and the best technology available. We call it a “laboratory” because it provides an opportunity for us to bring in teachers and principals and train them on site. I, by the way, appointed myself as the principal both of the iPrep Academy and the Primary Learning Center, so I am superintendent of schools, but I’m the principal of both an elementary and a senior high school. Last question. The question of pulling ELL kids out of classes comes up often. Your thoughts? I don’t believe in pulling kids out of anything. I believe in pushing in great opportunities, whether it’s professional development for teachers, great educational supplemental solutions to kids, or the creating, above all, of the environments that meet kids where they are, based on who they are, how they communicate, their own learning style and visibility, their own language, their own socioeconomic level. And that requires new and agile work in education. It’s hard work, but it is doable. It is very doable. —Judy Faust Hartnett a New Direction for High School Math Refocus the teaching of high school mathematics with NCTM’s Focus in High School Mathematics series. These informative new books address the direction high school mathematics is heading and builds on the ideas of NCTM’s Principles and Standards for School Mathematics. Focus in High School Mathematics: Reasoning and Sense Making focuses on how high school mathematics can better prepare students for future success. This valuable resource will: • Explain how to introduce reasoning and sense making into the mathematics curriculum and classroom • Provide a framework for how reasoning and sense making can develop in core content areas • Help teachers find a balance between promoting mathematical reasoning and procedural proficiency. Visit www.nctm.org/hsfocus to learn more about this exciting new series. www.DistrictAdministration.com hsfocus210_dadmn District Administration January 2011 23 http://www.nctm.org/hsfocus http://www.nctm.org/hsfocus http://www.DistrictAdministration.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - January 2011

District Administration - January 2011
Contents
From the Editor
Letters
News Update
Administrator Profile
District Profile
Conversations
Crisis Response
Going Mobile
Online Edge
Professional Opinion
K12 Guide to Audio/Visual Solutions
Product Focus
What’s the Value in Value-Added?
The Politicization of Bullying
Holding On to Parent Voices
Tough New Issues Refocus Health Education
New Products
Books

District Administration - January 2011