Montezuma-Cortez Re-1 Superintendent Alex Carter School told the school board that there’s no secret recipe to achieve and sustain academic improvement, but positive gains are coming soon.
“We’re going to see results this year,” Carter vowed at the Nov. 11 board meeting.
Carter said improvements had already been seen this school year, citing a 91 percent high school attendance rate. He said it’s the highest student participation rate in three years. The school must maintain a 95 percent attendance rate to avoid a drop in accreditation.
Despite the advance, a couple of Montezuma-Cortez High School students complained to the board that they don’t have the proper resources. The students raised concerns over a new science curriculum mastery program after school leaders failed to respond to a student petition. They cited a lack of adequate classroom computers for students.
“Not every kid has access to a computer during class,” said one student.
The students proposed a return to traditional style teaching instruction, arguing that the online-based individual-paced instruction was inadequate.
“The top students are a week behind,” said a student.
The board promised the concerns would be relayed to the principal.
Teacher accountability
To hold teachers accountable for improvement, officials also announced the district had recently streamlined efforts to base academic performance on end-of-year student expectations. Carter said if teachers were provided adequate training and schools received proper support, then educators could properly be evaluated and held accountable.
To monitor student performance, 90-day action plans have been implemented under the district’s unified improvement plan. Assistant Superintendent Laurie Haukeness said leadership teams would “stay the course” to oversee results.
“Everybody knows the goals,” said Haukeness.
During the 90-minute meeting, Carter seemed to blame “big data” in part for the district’s failures, adding the data was outdated when delivered to classroom instructors.
“We get big amounts of data back, and it’s frustrating, because it doesn’t help us move forward,” said Carter. “It’s not that usable. The only thing the data is good for is telling the community if we’ve done a good job or not. It doesn’t help the kids learn.”
Carter said the district was shifting to collecting “small data” that was more teacher-friendly. He said the effort would enable teachers to better and more quickly determine whether students were learning standard lessons.
Turnaround report?
To improve academics at the three elementary schools, the district has partnered with a University of Virginia turnaround program paid by the state. Despite its benefits, Carter warned board members not to expect routine progress reports, because top-level officials didn’t have the time to prepare such reports.
“We owe it to the board to show you the work we’re doing,” said Carter.
“You should be getting a 90-day plan report from each of our schools,” he continued. “We just don’t have the capacity.”
A team of 20 district officials are set to travel to Albuquerque for further UVA training in January.
Other news
Carter also said he was on his “soapbox” again as he complained about new graduation guidelines that would have to be implemented in two years. Carter said the new legislative mandates require districts to verify that all academic standards are met before rewarding a high school diploma. The aim is to ensure students meet college readiness standards.
Carter also announced that he and high school principal Jason Wayman would be traveling to a grant meeting in Sterling, Colo., to request new stadium funding. The trip will also serve as a fact-finding mission to determine how to furnish the new high school once it opens next fall.
“We’re going to make a big road trip, and hopefully get all of the information we need to inform our decisions,” said Carter.
A Kiva Charter School official also provided board members with an update on their family style lunch program; art, music and dance clubs; field trips and multi-day cultural tours.
The board also revised its tobacco-free school policy to include electronic cigarettes.
“They’re vaping, baby,” said board member Diane Fox, who also warned that students can infuse such cigarettes with marijuana and heroin.
Board president Tim Lanier was absent from the meeting, which ended behind closed doors in executive session.
tbaker@cortezjournal.com