Posted in: Indiana, Nevada, Washington
NEA Secretary-Treasurer Sees Common Themes in Successful Schools
Tag Becky Pringle, Evansville, Indiana, Jonathan Knapp, Las Vegas, Mary Lindquist, Nevada, No Child Left Behind, Olga Addae, priority schools, school improvement grants, Seattle, Seattle Education Association, sig, Susan Enfield, Washington, Washington Education Association
by Alain Jehlen
On her 2011 back-to-school tour, NEA Secretary-Treasurer Rebecca Pringle went looking for common elements in great schools serving students from low-income families. Two days and four schools into the tour, she says she’s found them:
- A committed, empowered staff, working as a team.
- Parents engaged in a meaningful way.
- Labor and management working together to help children learn.
Pringle told educators at two Seattle elementary schools that she saw these key features in both schools, Hawthorne Elementary and West Seattle Elementary. Both are NEA Priority Schools and both are getting help from federal School Improvement Grants.
Pringle’s back-to-school tour began Monday in Evansville, Indiana, and concludes Wednesday in Las Vegas.
At every school she’s visited, Pringle has emphasized that no cookie-cutter approach will work to improve schools. “I talk about Hawthorne all the time,” she said yesterday. “I don’t tell people, ‘Do what Hawthorne did,’ because every school is different. But there are common themes.”
Pringle was joined at Hawthorne by Washington Education Association President Mary Lindquist, Seattle Education Association President Olga Addae, Seattle Education Association Vice President Jonathan Knapp, and Seattle Superintendent Susan Enfield. Hawthorne educators told them about the transformation they have carried out. This year, Hawthorne made “adequate yearly progress” as defined by the federal No Child Left Behind law.
Click here to read the complete story on NEAPrioritySchools.org.
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Posted September 25th, 2011 at 9:39 pm
I’m intrigued by the “family support staff” positions. What are they, how do they work, and how are they funded? This may be what we need in our district.
Posted September 24th, 2011 at 1:23 pm
Every educator should read The Death and LIfe of the Great American Education System by Diane Ravitch. With statistical and anecdotal information she discusses NCLB, testing, private versus public education, unions, tenure and other topics important to educators. And the book is very readable.
Posted September 16th, 2011 at 3:15 pm
I just attempted to introduce graphing calculators to a class of 33 7th-graders. I have only 17 graphing calculators and they are now older that the students.
Posted September 24th, 2011 at 3:35 pm
I sub at the schools to see what is wrong in our schools and the worst are the high schools because some have more than 35 students and it is very hard for a teacher to move up and down the aisles and this was the way it was when I had 45 or more in class and the rooms were too small to reach everybody. In the 60′s and 70′s we tried to get them smaller and succeeded and I know the teachers are not able to reach all the students. We are going backwards and the parents are both working so they come home tired and have no time to help the students. Everything is left for the teachers to do including teaching them manners because many are not doing what they are supposed to do and parents expect teachers to teach at school and also teach them how to behave.
Posted September 28th, 2011 at 10:12 am
TI-80′s, TI-81′s and TI-82′s still work great. There is no reason you can’t use them as basic graphing tools. And you can get them for $10 used. I have 83+’s in my class that I have to watch like a hawk. You can let the kids take home the older ones. It’s an advantage that you have older calculators!