Superintendents uniquely see the big picture of every service provided in a school division to support learning by all students. We understand that education has one purpose: graduate every student enrolled in Virginia’s public schools with the knowledge and skills to be successful as adult citizens, in post-secondary education programs, and as workforce employees. Virginia’s school divisions represent vast differences, but superintendents share a similar viewpoint. All learners in Virginia need top-notch teachers, the best tools and resources available, and access to contemporary curricula and multiple measures necessary to assess expected competencies. We believe meeting the educational needs of Virginia’s children is non-negotiable, regardless of demographics, geographic location, or economic resources.
The Virginia Association of School Superintendents (VASS) unifies the educational perspective of superintendents–the chief executive officers for school divisions in Virginia. We represent the one educational organization whose members are charged with oversight of support for every child, employee, and family in a school division’s community. In May 2011, Virginia’s superintendents began a comprehensive planning process to create a Blueprint for Virginia’s Future in Public Education. Over the course of several months, more than 50 percent of Virginia’s 132 superintendents drafted and edited the document. In October, during the VASS Legislative Conference, the full membership stood and approved the final draft—a statement of solidarity in our support for the Blueprint. We also recognized the Blueprint’s approval represented an historic moment as division leaders stood together to define a path of educational transformation for Virginia’s schools.
We see the VASS Blueprint as bringing “Reason to Reform”, something that seems in short supply among politicians and bureaucrats charged with shaping law and public policy. We agree with the concept of some federal and state initiatives that shed light on unacceptable achievement gaps. We also agree with the need for change in structures, procedures, and processes within the public education system. We also strongly believe, however, that the 20th century reform effort fueling the current accountability movement does not address contemporary challenges in educating youth today for the needs of tomorrow’s America. We aren’t alone in this work. Partner organizations are beginning to endorse the Blueprint and stand with with us—such as the Virginia School Boards Association and the Virginia Society for Technology in Education. We understand other groups have an endorsement on the agenda as they reconvene in coming months.
Educators often spend more time focusing on what we are against than what we stand for. By presenting the VASS Blueprint to Governor Bob McDonnell, Virginia Secretary of Education Laura Fornash, the Virginia Board of Education, Superintendent for Public Instruction Patricia Wright, partner educational organizations, the media, and communities across Virginia, we are making a statement about what we know works and what doesn’t work. We regularly hear from teachers, principals, parents, students, community members and employers about the need for public education transformation. The Blueprint addresses what we see as educationally important for the nation, Virginia, and our local communities. We’ve identified five key goals for change over the next three years. They are:
- Prepare all students to be college and career ready: We want learners to immerse themselves in real-world problems and projects to develop the breadth of knowledge and skills important to success in post-secondary education and the workforce. We need to focus on learning depth within disciplines, not superficial coverage of content.
- Measure student progress and achievement through a variety of assessments not limited to standardized, multiple choice tests: The benefits of established standards and criterion-referenced assessments, such as SOLs, have been significant, but are no longer sufficient. We need to broaden assessments so that young people can show their understanding and demonstrate competencies, not just bubble in answers on mandated multiple choice tests. Parents and educators want to see real learning growth, not just test results.
- Use evidence-based teaching and learning models that meet individual needs of diverse students: Learning time should not be dictated by a clock or a calendar, but by learners’ needs.We want to expand quality virtual learning opportunities and remove calendar and scheduling barriers to increase flexibility in teaching and access to learning. We want to implement a tiered instructional model for math and reading. If a child needs help, we must have the flexibility to provide it during the school day.
- Recruit, develop, and maintain effective and technically-proficient teachers, administrators, and classified staff: Realistically, we know we can’t accomplish educational innovation without an investment in our employees. It’s people who educate, not standards. To create a culture in which change can occur, we need to invest in our “boots on the ground” educators. This means we need to finance professional training and development to retool and deepen expertise in knowledge of content and teaching skills. We need to offer competitive salaries and benefits that place our teachers in the top ten percent of the nation. We need support for locally-controlled differentiated compensation, not a state-determined merit pay plan.
- Ensure the Commonwealth meets its financial responsibility in providing public education and promoting economic development (State’s Role in Funding Public Education): In our effort to reform while saving money, we have burdened school divisions and our people with unfunded mandates, disparity among localities and a scary retirement system Localities already shoulder a much larger portion of K-12 expenditures than intended by state policy. We are only asking that the state follow the rules of the road as described in the State’s Role in Funding Public Education. We need to eliminate funding disparities among localities, not by diminishing the local resources of the most-able but by improving resources for the least-able to fund the resources needed to level the playing field of instructional delivery.
VASS superintendents are responsible for the achievement of close to 1.3 million children enrolled in public schools. We are accountable for all school employees—from Virginia’s largest division in Fairfax County to the smallest in Highland County. We collectively treasure the student successes and agonize over failures across our divisions, regardless of size. We brought forward the Blueprint for Virginia’s Future in Public Education for one reason alone: because we believe our goals serve the best interests of the young people in our schools today.
In the next few weeks, VASS press conferences will be held across the state to provide more information about the Framework.
Pamela R. Moran is president of the Virginia Association of School Superintendents.
Education Reform in Virginia: A Blueprint
Superintendents uniquely see the big picture of every service provided in a school division to support learning by all students. We understand that education has one purpose: graduate every student enrolled in Virginia’s public schools with the knowledge and skills to be successful as adult citizens, in post-secondary education programs, and as workforce employees. Virginia’s school divisions represent vast differences, but superintendents share a similar viewpoint. All learners in Virginia need top-notch teachers, the best tools and resources available, and access to contemporary curricula and multiple measures necessary to assess expected competencies. We believe meeting the educational needs of Virginia’s children is non-negotiable, regardless of demographics, geographic location, or economic resources.
The Virginia Association of School Superintendents (VASS) unifies the educational perspective of superintendents–the chief executive officers for school divisions in Virginia. We represent the one educational organization whose members are charged with oversight of support for every child, employee, and family in a school division’s community. In May 2011, Virginia’s superintendents began a comprehensive planning process to create a Blueprint for Virginia’s Future in Public Education. Over the course of several months, more than 50 percent of Virginia’s 132 superintendents drafted and edited the document. In October, during the VASS Legislative Conference, the full membership stood and approved the final draft—a statement of solidarity in our support for the Blueprint. We also recognized the Blueprint’s approval represented an historic moment as division leaders stood together to define a path of educational transformation for Virginia’s schools.
We see the VASS Blueprint as bringing “Reason to Reform”, something that seems in short supply among politicians and bureaucrats charged with shaping law and public policy. We agree with the concept of some federal and state initiatives that shed light on unacceptable achievement gaps. We also agree with the need for change in structures, procedures, and processes within the public education system. We also strongly believe, however, that the 20th century reform effort fueling the current accountability movement does not address contemporary challenges in educating youth today for the needs of tomorrow’s America. We aren’t alone in this work. Partner organizations are beginning to endorse the Blueprint and stand with with us—such as the Virginia School Boards Association and the Virginia Society for Technology in Education. We understand other groups have an endorsement on the agenda as they reconvene in coming months.
Educators often spend more time focusing on what we are against than what we stand for. By presenting the VASS Blueprint to Governor Bob McDonnell, Virginia Secretary of Education Laura Fornash, the Virginia Board of Education, Superintendent for Public Instruction Patricia Wright, partner educational organizations, the media, and communities across Virginia, we are making a statement about what we know works and what doesn’t work. We regularly hear from teachers, principals, parents, students, community members and employers about the need for public education transformation. The Blueprint addresses what we see as educationally important for the nation, Virginia, and our local communities. We’ve identified five key goals for change over the next three years. They are:
VASS superintendents are responsible for the achievement of close to 1.3 million children enrolled in public schools. We are accountable for all school employees—from Virginia’s largest division in Fairfax County to the smallest in Highland County. We collectively treasure the student successes and agonize over failures across our divisions, regardless of size. We brought forward the Blueprint for Virginia’s Future in Public Education for one reason alone: because we believe our goals serve the best interests of the young people in our schools today.
In the next few weeks, VASS press conferences will be held across the state to provide more information about the Framework.
Pamela R. Moran is president of the Virginia Association of School Superintendents.