11/24/10

This week I am focusing on three interviews:

Mr. Johnny Briseno, Principal, Rancho Isabella Elementary School, Angleton ISD
Dr. Timothy Charogis, Director of Research, Planning, and Development, Beaumont ISD
Dr. Kirk Lewis, Superintendent, Pasadena (TX) ISD

Each of these educators was interviewed by Lamar University for my current course on Educational Research.  I would like to share some thoughts, ideas, and quotes from those interviews:

Mr. Johnny Briseno:
"We don't make decisions without looking at data first.  That's the bottom line."
However, statistical data must be balanced with qualitative data, "sometimes if you just look at numbers, it doesn't tell you the whole story."
"It's a lot better for them (teachers) to go out and present it (data) to the staff that it is for me because it's their peer telling them 'it's working, here's what I'm doing with this student.'"

Dr. Chargois suggested that teachers can longer simply present content, but that research must be applied to instruction to ensure that best practices are being implemented and student success is maximized.  He also suggested that the old teacher's addage "if I can just reach one student, then I have done my job" no longer applies.  Accountability within school systems is at an all-time high.  Teachers are now required to reach all students.

Dr. Lewis spoke of a grant that was received by Pasadena ISD to implement a program that they call "Expectation Graduation".  They have used the funds from the grant to change the way instruction is delivered.  He described the grant as data-driven due to the fact that the results of the changes that they are making are monitored to ensure that they are using the grant effectively.

The underlying theme to all of this research is that every student must be reached.  Whether you offer a change in practice, alter a teaching style, differentiate delivery, break down data, or use grant funding, the bottom line is, every student needs to be successful.  There also needs to be an understanding that results go beyond TAKS testing.  Educators must realize that we aren't reaching students just so they can pass a test.  We do what we do as educators, because every one of our students is worth the effort.