To learn more about what the turn-around process looked like for other school districts and states, I  carefully reviewed the U.S. Department of Education website, which helped me to understand what the turn-around process looks like for under-performing schools. he seven turn around principles. Specifically, I learned more about the seven turn-around principles. The principles are: Strong Leadership, Effective Teachers, Redesigned schedules for additional time, Rigorous and Aligned instructional programs, Use of data for continuous development, Safe and healthy students, and Family and community engagement. As a member of the CSC Committee, I was able to connect these principles to our monthly meeting topics throughout the year as we constructed the redesign plan.

           The turn-around principle of having effective teachers is one principle that I was interested to learn more about. Thus, I reviewed an article titled Why do High-Poverty Schools have Difficulty Staffing their Classrooms with Qualified Teachers in order to help me understand why our committee had to collaborate on the specific characteristics of an effective teacher in a turn around school before the hiring process. This report investigates the possibility that other factors- those tied to the characteristics and conditions of schools- are the reason for teacher shortages. This caused me to reflect on the characteristics that our hiring committee  looked for in teacher candidates as a part of the hiring process.We went through a highly selective interview and hiring process in hopes to find the individuals that would be able to collaboratively work hard while making a difference in the lives of our students every day.

We could improve during our last year of turn around by requiring that effective teachers take a “mental health day” once monthly. Since we found the most dedicated, flexible, and socially-intelligent people to service our students, it is important that we recognize the load effective classroom teachers carry, and ensure that effective classroom teachers are given the time and space to “re-charge” as necessary! This could also serve as an incentive for teachers that are currently performing at an approaching or beginning level according to the Leap teacher evaluation performance levels.
 
                                  The turnaround principle of Safe and healthy students was also discussed frequently in our CSC meetings as we explored possible social emotional learning supports and curriculum. I found an article that supports our decision to provide social-emotional learning supports to teachers for students. Sparks, (2013), explains the importance of social-emotional needs being entwined with student learning. After reviewing this article, I found that a growing consensus recognizes that the elements that make up school climate are just as important to student performance as effective academic curriculum!
As a school, this means that we must consistently provide these supports in order for students to feel safe; helping them to engage in each learning experience!
 
Finally, developing Rigorous and Aligned instructional programs was at the forefront of our discussions as well. As a part of the redesign process, students at Valverde have been given more opportunities to engage in technology-based content and blended-learning opportunities. Promethean boards in every classroom, one-to-one technology for students in grades 3rd-5th, and providing more technology-based communications. I learned more about exactly what blended learning is when Maxwell, (2016), identified the key elements of blended learning. One of the most important elements of blended learning is giving students the control over where, when, and how they work. We allow students to engage in blended learning everyday through our independent station rotations every day. However, we have students on a fixed schedule to rotate through the stations in a particular order, with the same group of students.

                                  After reviewing this article, I thought of a few ways we can provide students with more choice as well as more integrated learning experiences. We could provide students with an activity menu from which they can choose to work on tasks in any particular order and partner with any peer of their choice regardless of their reading and math performance levels!


Literature Resources:
Ingersoll, R. M. (2005, November 19). Why do High-Poverty Schools have Difficulty Staffing their Classrooms with Qualified Teachers? AmericanProgress.org Retrieved from
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education-k-12/news/2004/11/19/1205/why-do-high-poverty-schools-have-difficulty-staffing-thier-classroom-with-qualifies-teachers/
 
Maxwell, C. (2016). What blended learning is and isn’t. Blended Learning Universe. Retrieved from
http://www.blendedlearning.org/what-blended-learning-is-and-isn’t
 
Sparks, S. (2013). Social-emotional needs entwined with students’ learning security. Education Week. Retrieved from
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/01/10/16environment.h32.html
 
United States Department of Education. Turnaround Principles. Retrieved from
http://www2.ed.gov/programs/sif/sigoverviewppt.pdf