This year, like every year, kids go back to school, and teachers and administrators go back to the drawing board, finding new ways to try to help the lowest-performing students catch up. It seems to always be a struggle.
"It’s possible because as students they can do it," said Shadaria Foster, Principal of the Year at Dallas ISD.
Foster has done it. Her former school, Kennedy Curry Middle, failed its campus report card, and in one year --- she got them two points away from a B. Now she'll follow those students to high school where she'll serve as principal with the goal of keeping grades up there.
"I think we try to do so much with little time, we have to make things simple, simplicity is key," said Foster.
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Her words were echoed by her boss, Dallas ISD Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde, who gathered a room full of principals today to say those lesson plans and all that paperwork required of their staff are no more.
She wants to return the focus to a solid curriculum and give teachers leeway to chase success.
"We still have persistent gaps in student achievement, so we know we need to do something differently. And we need to listen to our teams who are truly the ones that are implementing decisions that we make," said Elizalde.
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It includes not teaching to the test and adding staff, something she says they’re able to do with a surprising uptick in applications to teach. Elizalde said it’s not just about bringing up the kids who are drastically behind but helping those already succeeding.
Arnaldo Zuniga is the principal of the district's gifted and talented school. He was thrilled to hear Elizalde will focus on helping his students, who while making good grades, still may not be at their top potential.
“The students that were in elementary when the pandemic hit, we’re going to be seeing this for the next ten years just to erase that, there was already a gap and the gap got larger,” he said.
The principals took it all in. They were students today, eager, taking notes, and challenged to go in and bring home a win when the real kids get to the classroom in just a few weeks.
