How do we engage our youth to adopt a passion for learning and a will to be lifelong learners?

 

We capture their curiosity when they're young and entering the classroom and seek ways to nurture it throughout our time with them in our schools.

 

We should ensure that our teachers have the resources they need and that we are hearing their challenges and addressing them. We should also listen to the concerns of parents and working to intervene when needed, at the earliest possible moment that our children need our help.

 

We need to guide students by teaching them how to think; not what to think. We need to teach them to never stop exploring and to approach everything with curiosity and critical thinking skills. Sometimes, that means being creative in our work and stepping away from desktop learning into real, hands-on, innovative ways of learning. It comes down to teaching "every child, every day" in the way they learn best and always being willing to adapt. Lastly, sometimes it means recognizing loss of learning, cleaning house, and moving forward. It means NEVER settling for mediocrity. Our children deserve nothing less than the very best we can give them.

 

Throughout the past couple of years of my extensive research, I have become most concerned with:

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• Making more substantial progress on district scorecards (Historically, it's been stagnant or inconsistent.)

• Improving graduation rates and eliminating haphazard pass/fail exceptions

• Drawing families into our district; sharing what makes our schools great and learning where we can do better (Enrollment has been declining, with many unenrolling.)

• Questionable curriculum materials obtained through Open Records/ FOIA requests with the district. 

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When I say "clean house", what I mean is cleaning up the curriculum.

Neither failed methods or politics belong in our schools.

We need to ensure our children receive the best quality of education they can possibly receive through:

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• Assessment of highly rated curricula and observation of what other districts have implemented in comparison to ours (the efficacy of curriculum materials)
   

• Full curriculum transparency (board members and families being able to physically review curriculum items themselves)
   

• Strong parent-teacher partnerships, and continued engagement of the board and administrators out in the community
   

• Engaging learners (ensuring a strong mixture of hands-on and textbook learning with as much real-life application as possible. 

• Preparing our children for life after high school, wherever that may lead them.
   

• Better record keeping:
       When I asked last year during virtual learning what percentage of students were currently failing, which courses have the highest failure rate, and grade levels of students with the highest failure rate and how it compared to the year prior, I was told that the district does not track that kind of data. We absolutely need to know where every single student is in their learning and recognize that we are accountable to the outcome of their future. With careful, in-depth record keeping, we can identify areas of commonality where students are failing, spot trends, and work to "fine tune" with whatever intervention is necessary.

How can we solve a problem we can't identify?

Everything robust has always required frequent evaluation and maintenance; education is no exception. 

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