“We all know the Board of Education wants data-driven results when it comes to testing,” Mrs. Steen continued.
“But that shouldn’t mean they can control what we do in our classroom,” said Mr. Collins, another veteran of the school system that had been around when Ron was a student in these halls himself. “We take up so much time preparing for these standardized tests we don’t have any time to actually teach.”
Ron agreed. In the span of two decades, education had changed so drastically. He’d taken a couple of standardized tests in his formative years. But they’d all been to collect data to help teachers teach better. None of them had determined how much funding his school would receive or give Barton a grade that prospective parents would weigh in deciding where they wanted their future students to attend. Certainly, none had determined the job security of his teachers or the entire school.
Nowadays principals were caught between the Board of Education who wanted data-driven results, the teachers who wanted control of their classrooms, and parents who wanted to see their kids succeed. But it was the new policy, and Ron had to push the policy.
“We need to have everyone handing in lesson plans every week to make sure all the children are getting an adequate education,” said Mrs. Steen.
“The requirement is not for weekly lesson plans,” Ron spoke up. “You can turn them in unit by unit.”
“But we need to be sure to evaluate,” said Mrs. Steen.
“There is no requirement to evaluate everyone’s lesson and make them similar,” said Ron. “Where you have a strength, Mr. Collins might have a weakness.”
“Weaknesses shouldn’t be tolerated when it comes to the future of our community,” she said.
“Forgive me,” said Ron. “Weakness is the wrong word. We all have our own strengths. If we use those strengths to teach the lesson, the children will get what they need.”
There was a rally of head nods and grunts of agreement. Ron had worked hard to earn the trust of the people gathered around. He’d worked with most of them for the last decade either being one of their students, helping in their classes as a teaching assistant during college, or being a colleague.
He may have been young, but he’d proven himself in the halls, conferences, and of course the endless meetings. They knew he understood where they were coming from and would have their interest at heart.
“We still have to evaluate the new test prep company,” said Mrs. Steen.
“We already have a prep company,” said Mr. Collins. “We’ve been with Here 2 Learn for the last five years.”
“And for the last two years, we’ve had problems with the company providing us outdated material, lessons that didn’t meet the competencies, and late delivery of results.”
Half of the room nodded in agreement at Mrs. Steen’s assessment of the test prep company. The other half crossed their arms and fidgeted with the pens and papers in their hands, clearly uncomfortable with change.
“There’s a new company that’s getting some attention,” Mrs. Steen continued. “They’re called Thrive Learning Systems and
they’ve been using very innovative testing methods.”
Ron perked up when he heard the name of the company. He remembered it because it had been uttered by Kylee’s lips. He’d paid very good attention to her mouth when she’d been speaking. When she’d been quiet, too.
“We don’t need to try anything new now,” said Mr. Collins. “Let’s stick with the known.”
“No, actually,” said Ron, sitting up taller and commanding the room once more, “I think we should look into this new company. Besides if Here 2 Learn knows it’s got competition, that might encourage them to make improvements.”
There were more nods of assent than shrugs, so Ron took it as a good sign.
“If that’s all,” he said, “we can adjourn the meeting.”
Every teacher gathered his or her stack of papers and rose. Except for Mrs. Steen. Ever since he’d been chosen as the newest principal of Barton two years ago, she’d been on his back. Suddenly, the thought of Molly Romano putting glitter on her eraser brightened Ron’s mood.
“I want to put a few things on the agenda for the next staff meeting,” she said. “We’re still facing overcrowding in the classes.”
“There’s been population growth in the city,” he said. “I’m looking to hire more teachers, but there are budget constraints.”
“You’ve spent a lot of that budget on anti-bullying when some of us believe it should go to test prep.”
“We have the budget meeting coming up at the end of the school year and I will be happy to take your concerns then, Mrs. Steen.”
“There’s also the issue of the Romano girl. If I’m going to prepare my students for this test, I can’t have antics like that in my class. She might fare better in Mr. Collin’s class.”
“I’m not moving her from your class.” As much as he wanted to. Molly might challenge her authority, but Ron knew Mrs. Steen was one of the best teachers on his roster. A bright kid like Molly needed the challenge that only she could bring. Still, he felt sorry for the kid. “The two of you need to find a way to get along.”