WEEk 2 Part 2

Looking at the campus STaR Chart, it revealed some interesting results in the area of Educator Preparation and Development. During the three year period, this area had the lowest scores. The area assesses professional development experiences, models of professional development, capabilities of educators, access to professional development, levels of understanding and patterns of use, and professional development for online learning. These six categories totalled to a 9, in the 2007-08 school year. This was the year that an first year administrator was brought in. I believe that all should be given an opportunity to prove themselves and a place to start. However, in this case, I do not believe that it was the right adminstrative decision to bring in an unproven frist year principal to the lowest performing campus in the district. The data show low scores because the principal was in over her head with other major problems. Therefore, since she was not able to handle all that was in the fore front, some items "fell threw the cracks"; staff development was one of them. However, there have been some good changes on campus and the district-wide technology initiatives have made a significant difference. The three year period, the district has brought on PD360, an online professional development initiative. It has been implemented and showing good results. Locally, the campus has a Technology Specialist that continually supports the teachers. The computer lab was also upgraded to double the amount of space and computers available for students. This local, district and state initiatives have made a difference and was evident in the final year of assessment, 2008-09, when it made a 6 point jump, from 9 to 15 points!