Kids Aren't Widgets!​

Most of my career was spent working in Information Technology within manufacturing facilities, which meant a lot of time spent with systems that tracked performance of machines and machine operators and quality outcomes of the manufacturing floor.  I have found that this mindset doesn't translate well to monitoring progress within schools.  That's because kids aren't widgets.​

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Each year, teachers get a whole new set of students, each with different talents, strengths, and weaknesses.  They come from different backgrounds, some from strong involved families, others not so much.  

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Our school systems, nationally, function on an outdated "industrial model" in which we teach to the middle and hope the kids on the fringes will get what they need.  Unfortunately this fails a lot of kids who struggle academically and it fails kids who are highly gifted.  

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That's why I love to see our district set goals around individual performance.  We value each student as an individual and want to provide each student with what they need to succeed.  What I've seen in our elementary schools around WIN (What I Need) is amazing.  I've seen individualized lesson plans focused on just what a specific student needs.  As a school board director I will continue to support this work in our district to meet each student's needs!

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Learning Loss

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It's no secret that the unnecessary lockdowns during COVID produced significant learning loss in our kids.  Our board has worked hard to find meaningful and effective ways to monitor performance in key areas.  When I first started on the board, I felt our School Improvement Plans were primarily "rah rah" sessions.  Folks would come and present all the good things that were happening at their schools.  This is fine and I love celebrating good things happening, but that's not a School Improvement Plan.  So I asked the Superintendent to work with building administrators to improve the improvement plans as follows:

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• Identify key areas that need improvement

• Ensure these areas are tied to district objectives (or change district objectives so that there is consistency)

• Show us the areas you plan to improve

• Tell us how you will do it, and how you will measure it

• Come to the board with data showing how you've improved (or not improved)

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To their credit, building administrators have stepped up and now provide interesting, and real data around the performance of students in their buildings.  I'm hoping to continue to work in this area so that we can see improvements in our student's success.

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