The Grand Rapids Press 03/10/12 Brian McVicar
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“‘Quality teaching… learning in every classroom: Grand Rapids Superintendent pledges to focus on academic achievement”
When parents and residents watch Grand Rapids interim Superintendent Teresa Weatherall Neal deliver her first State of our Schools address Saturday, it won’t take long to see how her leadership differs from that of her predecessors.
Accompanying her on stage will be representatives of the district’s seven employee unions – a symbol of what Neal describes as her mission to strengthen the culture of the district and show stakeholders that improving it will take the effort of all its employees.
“We want everything to focus around academic achievement – consistent, quality teaching and learning in every classroom,” said Neal, a longtime administrator at the district who took the reins of GRPS in January, after the school board placed Taylor on academic leave.
Michigan Educational Assessment Program test scores released last month highlight the challenges the district faces. Of its seventh grade students, only 12.9 percent were proficient in math, 37 percent in reading and 26.6 percent in writing.
“We have been lax in following our own rules and we haven’t sent a very clear message to students about what those expectations are,” she said.
Common Sense Review
The Superintendent is starting off on the wrong foot, standing on stage with seven employee unions who represent the teachers not the children. From the stats that were given shows there are a bigger problem and that they still are going to pander to everyone by stating they need to focus on teaching and learning…
The proof is in the pudding..In 2010 Graduation / Drop Out rate report, Detroit public is doing better that GRPS…When the children are not graduation or obtaining skills to make them quality adults, the school systems are setting them up to fail in life..
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