Vicki Shelton: Recipe for Success – 2015

Lakeside Park Our recipe for success begins in kindergarten and emphasizes school culture and solid instruction. As Coach Pat Summitt writes, “Your focus better be on the small things and having the discipline and patience to do things right.” We focus on welcoming families and nurturing students. We focus on what we teach by identifying the most powerful standards and then we focus on how we teach. Instruction is always active and engaging. The teachers and their commitment … Read More

Sue Clark: Recipe for Success – 2015

We meet regularly with Principal, teachers, guidance, librarian, and Instructional coach to analyze student data.  We divide students into groups with similar needs and assign them a tutor. We also use DEA results to make these groups.  Each student has a tutor or interventionalist targeting their specific needs.  Currently this year, we have implemented the RTI program to get students the extra help they may need.  Glendale has a large parent tutoring organization.  We also work with Belmont … Read More

Renee’ Bernard: Recipe for Success – 2015

McPheeter’s Bend Elementary There are many factors that contribute to the success of McPheeter’s Bend Elementary. We have had excellent Value-Added scores for many years, but still strive to achieve more. I strongly believe Todd Whitaker’s stance that it is “People not Programs” that is the core of our success. The faculty and staff of McPheeter’s Bend Elementary School work together as a team to improve student achievement. Every day begins with a 120 minute reading/literacy block. During … Read More

Caught in a Vise: The Challenges Facing Teacher Preparation in an Era of Accountability

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Ginsberg, R. & Kingston, N. (2014). Caught in a vise: the challenges facing teacher preparation in an era of accountability. Teachers College Record 116(1). Online: http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentID=17295 Reflecting the view of most teacher educators, “Caught in a Vice” says that teacher educators hear all of the criticisms and are working diligently to address them. They are faced, however, with insurmountable technical problems in assessing teacher and training effectiveness. In other words, they are doing everything that the state of … Read More

The Uneasy Coexistence of High Stakes and Developmental Practice

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American Association of School Administrators Harrington-Lueker, D. (2000). The uneasy coexistence of high stakes and developmental practice.  Online: http://www.aasa.org/SchoolAdministratorArticle.aspx?id=14474 Written in 2000, the following well illustrates how schools and educators are affected by the propagation of faddish teaching practices.  In the eighties, states dropped traditional teacher-led instruction in order to adopt developmentally appropriate practice in grades K-2.  When school outcomes declined and test-based accountability was imposed to stop the slide, school leaders bemoaned the retreat from what they … Read More

Early-Education Teachers Need Better Training

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Education Week:  Commentary Stevens, K. B. (2015). Early-education teachers need better training. Education Week. Online: https://www.aei.org/articles/early-education-teachers-need-better-training/ “Conventional teacher training comes with a lot of baggage, and relying on it to prepare early educators would be a mistake.” “A 2011 Thomas B. Fordham Institute study by Steve Farkas and Ann Duffett found that half of all education professors themselves think that “‘teacher education programs often fail to prepare teachers for the challenges of teaching in the real world.” That … Read More

Improving Teacher Quality in OK

Improving Teacher Quality in Oklahoma: A Closer Look by John E. Stone, Ed.D., George K. Cunningham, Ph.D., and Donald B. Crawford, Ph.D. Are teacher training and teacher quality in Oklahoma really improving? The answer depends on whom you ask . education.s providers or education.s consumers. Under the guise of vaguely stated pedagogical reforms, Oklahoma is promoting the adoption of an approach to teaching that is at odds with the educational aims of Oklahoma.s parents and taxpayers. In effect, new … Read More

Misdirected Teaching & Failed Reform

Misdirected Teacher Training has Crippled Education Reform Significant Improvement will Require Teaching that Agrees with State Policy Aims An online controversy about the impact of Common Core on teaching in grades preK-3 revealed an illusion that has crippled education reform for decades. Policymakers may think that educators disagree with them only about the means to education reform. In truth, they also disagree about the ends. Since the 1983 Nation at Risk report, state and national policymakers have set … Read More

Steps you can take

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Options for Parent and Citizen Action A school’s scores reflect your child’s risk of success or failure. At some schools, 90% or more of students have mastered reading by grade 3 and only 10% have not.  The national average, however, is around 33%.  Schools with a low percentage of proficient third grade readers will have a low percentage of proficient students in other grades and subjects. 1.  If it appears that your child is among those who are … Read More

2011 VAAA – Holston Valley Middle School

Third Place, East Division, K-8/Middle Schools Jess Lockhart, Principal 1717 Bristol Caverns Highway Bristol, TN 37620 Sullivan County Schools Visit website Recipe For Success: Holston Valley is a 6-8 middle school in rural Sullivan County with 76% of the students economically disadvantaged.  We currently have 201 students at Holston Valley and our objective has always been to prepare our students to meet the challenges of a changing world.  We provide varied instruction tailored to the needs of a diverse … Read More

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