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Submitted by Calhoun Schools
(Charleston, W.Va.) Student academic achievement is at the top of the Calhoun County's priority list.
The County School System Leadership Team is continuing its learning as it studies and analyzes the various factors that impact student academic achievement.
The local team, comprised of Ron Blankenship, Greg Cartwright, Emilio Garza, Karen Larry, Jane Lynch, Mike Offutt, Donnie Price, Larry Stinn and Dave Scraggs, has recently returned from its second statewide conference of this school year where team members studied curriculum practices used by high performing school districts throughout the country.
During the conference, team members heard from national leaders in standards based education and from practicing superintendents both from West Virginia and other states whose leadership is bringing about improved student achievement.
Additionally, the local team devoted time each day of the conference to analyzing curriculum practices common to high performing school systems. This analysis is part of the process outlined by the West Virginia Framework for School System Improvement that will eventually culminate in each school system working with local education stakeholders in the writing of a five year strategic plan for the local school system.
The Calhoun County team is part of a statewide initiative that began three years ago designed to achieve the state's goal of bringing all children in the public school system to mastery and beyond and to close the achievement gap among the subgroups of students in the state's schools. This year's focus is on the elements that impact student achievement. These elements include curriculum (what is taught), instruction (how it is taught), school effectiveness (where it is taught), and parent/family support (the context in which children live).
The county team brought home from the conference Learning Community Resource Packets on eight curriculum practices and on building a strong strategic plan. These resource packets are designed to be used with local educators for studying in a community learning setting about the different curriculum practices introduced at the conference. The team also has available to it resources for providing modules of professional development.
The West Virginia Framework for School System Improvement is an initiative developed by the West Virginia Department of Education and
supported by the West Virginia Board of Education for the purpose of building capacity among the state's education leaders.
Over 400 state leaders are currently developing new knowledge and skills necessary to implement the major changes occurring in the national, state, and local school system's education program.
For further information about the WV Framework for School System Improvement, contact the West Virginia Department of Education or Calhoun County Schools.
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