One of the first things that Principal Morales did was to conduct a needs assessment of her teaching staff to ascertain their attitudes about teaching, learning, and the students they served. The anonymous comments from teachers regarding the students demonstrated misguided beliefs such as “These kids will never go to college” and “They’re going to end up working minimum wage just like their parents.” Principal Morales was shocked by the pervasive deficit thinking among her teachers. She knew she had to begin changing teachers’ attitudes if she was going to make any positive steps toward education reform at Esperanza Elementary. At the beginning of October, Principal Morales used one of the allocated teacher professional development days on a Saturday to take her teachers on a “Neighborhood Bus Tour.” The teachers spent the morning touring the neighborhoods and apartment complexes where their students lived. They stopped at two prearranged sites and were able to meet informally with parents and students. The goals of these meetings were not necessarily to talk about student progress but rather to begin forging communication networks between teachers and parents. On returning to the campus, teachers spent the afternoon sharing their experiences of the parent visits. Principal Morales and her administrative team facilitated the discussion that included teacher testimonials regarding how some of their preconceived notions about certain families had been dispelled on engaging with them so successfully that morning. In the months that followed, Morales provided tailored professional development for teachers and administrators that emphasized high expectations for all students and challenging activities in the curriculum. It was important for teachers to see Principal Morales actively engaged in these efforts alongside them. This showed them her commitment to making changes at Esperanza Elementary and influenced their own efforts toward committing to the same goals. Next Steps As Principal Morales and her teachers pressed forward in challenging the status quo, glimmers of change among some of the teachers was evident. Communication between the teachers and parents reached heightened levels as teachers began to view parents as partners in the learning process. Several teachers who had previously commented on their low expectations of students began to view students in a different light. They did not focus on the students’ hardships as barriers to learning. Rather they encouraged and supported student achievement through high expectations. Other teachers focused on supporting students’ language maintenance in their native language and acquisition of English through academic support programs during school and afterschool. A core team of teachers began to research the feasibility of incorporating an additive language model like dual language instruction at the school. Yet another core team took responsibility for reviewing the fifth to sixth grade transition program currently in place and took steps to modify it. While positive changes began to emerge at Esperanza Elementary, the challenge that Principal Morales encountered was maintaining teachers’ motivation in the year to come. State-mandated achievement scores at the end of this landmark school year indicated minimal gains in student achievement. Teachers were once again rumbling about what students were actually capable of achieving. During their close-of-year meeting, Ms. Morales reminded teachers that increases on student achievement scores were only one measure of success. She encouraged her teachers to focus on the networks they had established with families and the variety of changes they had implemented that year. She congratulated teachers on their efforts and reminded them that they had created a foundation that would be built on over the next few years.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 05:00:03 +0000