Professional Development

What does it take to move a school forward?  It takes NCLB!!! Well, it’s a little more complicated than that.  We have not met our AYP for the last four years.  The first two years were a freebie with no sanctions and now we are in the second year of program improvement.  This past year [...]

The Big Four

As we complete our first (post NCLB visit) week, we have a lot of work ahead of us.  The “emerging themes” to address program improvement under NCLB for our school are; Communication, Collaboration, Professional Development, and Standards Based Instruction / Rigor.  These are universal themes that most NCLB Era schools are dealing with.  There has [...]

NCLB Day 3 Update 2

Hi, Everyone. This is Coordinator2 with the lastest developments onsite . As we came into the judge’s chambers this morning the air was tense. I had taken out my laptop to take notes and was advised that I would need special clearance to do any kind of note taking while we were [...]

NCLB Day 3 Update 1

Good morning everybody (Again, Again). This is Coordinator2 reporting live from behind the NCLB wall. It seems that my computer has NCLB Blues. I tried posting on two different occasions today. Somehow my computer crashed on both ocassions. I suspect  the NCLB team has monitored the wireless network in the school. [...]

NCLB Review Day 2 Update 3

It was a pretty busy day after lunch. I was not sure what the review team was doing, they went into a close door session. They must be doing last minute deliberations. I followed the team around on several ocassions and noticed that they did not go to the bathroom. I [...]

NCLB Review Day 2 Update 2 (Conspiracy Theories)

There have been some very disturbing reports. It seems that dogs have been released into our neighborhood. Late yesterday as a child was walking home from the after school program he was attacked by one of these dogs (Casualty #6). The bites were severe enough to land this boy in the hospital. [...]

NCLB Review Day 2 Update 1

Good morning everybody. This is Coordinator2 reporting live from the Behind the NCLB Wall. The skys are blue and the air calm. The Category 5 must be hitting our neighboring schools. Casualty #4, office technitian had to go home yesterday. Prelimary reports indicate an unusual nervousness and fear of [...]

The Eye of the Storm

It is said that in a hurricane, the calmest place is right in the middle (The eye of the storm). That is where we are today. The principal and the one of the AP’s was off campus today. They attended their monthly meeting at the district. NCLB DOES stop for PD’s [...]

NCLB Review Day 1 Update 5 Encore

Late Breaking News!!!!   The NCLB Team interviewed teachers after school.  Somewhere in the middle of the interviews the discussion got heated.  Apparently this has been a stressful experience for a lot of teachers. (As well as everyone else!!!!!!)   The focus of the NCLB team is on validating the work the school is already doing.  Program [...]

NCLB Review Day 1 Update 5

Wingin’it in Staff Development. We’ve been so busy with NCLB that our focus has gone away from Staff Development. In a late night communication with headquarters, a question was asked regarding the topic and who was heading the different groups. This year our efforts are centered on meeting the instructional needs [...]