Finance: I currently write grants for my school and we do tap various foundations for funds. Schools should also have the children/parents to fundraise to raise money for things that we need. If they take some responsibility for purchasing the items, they are less likely to vandalize it or allow their neighbors, friends to come in and steal from the school. I also support “site based management” which would allow principals and teachers to spend their money in a very economical manner in order to get the supplies/books that they need for the upcoming school year. Some teachers are very thrifty and these teachers would be the ones that you would want to put on the school budget team.
Technology is underleveraged. Our server is not very powerful but we do use electronic clickers, palm pilots but every school should have a smart board in each classroom.
Teachers: The idea by Chancellor Michelle Rhee – DC schools where teachers can be paid using the senority track or the merit based track. The merit based track allows you to be paid your regular salary plus bonuses based upon the achievement of your students. There needs to be more room for advancement and teachers who are interested need to be cross trained to learn a number of jobs in the school.
Student Incentives: Students should be provided with incentives to do well but I would suggest using a combination of student incentives and brain based learning because you want learning to be intrinsic. Currently I use, candy, chips, trips, free computer time as incentives for the students. In the past I gave out savings bonds and cd/radios. Schools can fundraise or write grants to fund these programs.
Performance Measurement and Assessment: Currently Accelerated Math and Study Island are two programs that teachers can use to assess a student’s academic growth in a particular subject. These two programs are excellent for preparing students for standardized tests and ensuring that their foundation skills in math and reading are solid.
COMER School Development Program: I will talk about this program in depth in another post. This is a wonderful school reform program that involves the teachers, administrators, students and community. Dr. James Comer -Yale University helps educators to learn how to teach the “WHOLE CHILD”.
Real World Application: I use an episode from “The Wire” , an urban drama produced by HBO to show how children can learn anything if you can break the subject down into real world situations that they can relate to. From Calculus to Shakespeare, children in the urban areas can learn and critically analyze these concepts if they can relate to the content.
The ultimate goal is to narrow the achievement gap between students from a lower socioeconomic status and other students globally and not just students in the United States. Because in the future they will be competing globally for jobs and business and not just within the United States.
