Wright discusses standards, assessment, school culture

Enterprise City Schools Superintendent Camille Wright discussed the Alabama State Department of Education’s Plan 2020, Educate Alabama and College and Career Ready Standards when addressing the system’s junior high and high school teachers Jan. 2.

Wright, who officially took the helm of the system Jan. 1, said she considers herself a lead learner and wants to partner with Enterprise teachers as they grow together.

“Many of you have heard of Plan 2020, but I think it’s very important we begin talking about the state’s strategic plan,” Wright said. “In the past, we’ve (strived) for a graduation rate. That’s no longer sufficient. We want students to graduate ready for colleges, for careers and for adulthood.”

Plan 2020, which was originally a wavier excluding Alabama from the federal government’s No Child Left Behind (NCLB) program, has become part of Alabama’s College and Career Ready Standards, which were adopted in 2010 in English, language arts and mathematics.

The College and Career Ready Standards, which are a combination of Common Core Standards and additional material created by the ALSDE, aim to create graduates who are prepared for college or a career right out of high school.

Wright said a majority of high-paying jobs in the future would require some kind of post-secondary training or education but would also require real-world skills some students have been lacking, such as the abilities to communicate and work with other people to complete a task or project.

According to Wright, career technical programs, which are heavily expanded in Plan 2020, have been teaching these skills for a long time.

“A prepared graduate has skills and knowledge they can apply in a real-world environment and the ability to apply that knowledge to things they haven’t seen,” Wright said. “They have to become life-long learners. The job market isn’t like it used to be where you worked for a single employer your entire life. They have to be able to learn, unlearn and relearn.”

One very beneficial part of Plan 2020 is added flexibility for districts under “school improvement.”

School improvement was established for schools that didn’t make adequate yearly progress benchmarks under NCLB, and ultimately restricted a district’s control.

In 2011, College Street Elementary, Hillcrest Elementary and Enterprise High School failed to meet at least one AYP benchmark, and EHS remains under school improvement.

“Dr. (Tommy) Bice (State Superintendent of Education) realizes the old definition of school improvement was flawed and was defined by things we can’t fix, can’t change and have little control over,” Wright said. “Plan 2020 is giving us a lot more flexibility. Now the state department isn’t saying, ‘You can’t do this,’ they’re instead saying, ‘What do you want to do, and how can we help you do it?’”

Wright said that means systems under school improvement are now limited only by their imaginations.

Another portion of Alabama’s strategic plan rests on the teacher assessment.

Through the EDUCATE Alabama program, which Enterprise will utilize, and the LEAD Alabama program, teachers can now evaluate themselves using an online database.

These programs facilitate a self-assessment based on content knowledge, teaching and learning, literacy, diversity and professionalism.

Wright was part of a statewide team of professional educators who helped revamp EDUCATE Alabama as it evolved from the Alabama Quality Teaching Standards, which was created almost a decade ago.

The assessment system collects data from across the state and helps both the ALSDE and local districts know how to better help their educators through specific and personalized professional development programs.

“This is an excellent way of collecting data,” Wright said. “However, we can only give the support if you reflect on your needs open and honestly.”

EDUCATE Alabama requires teachers to self-assess during the summer, Aug. 1 through July 31.

According to Bice, the programs are being used by the ALSDE to better understand where funding and resources for Alabama’s teachers and leaders are most needed.

Wright said it’s important for teachers in Enterprise to see the changing landscape of education today and to get the big picture of the new programs and standards the ALSDE is implementing.

“We have to be going in the same direction if we’re going to reach a common result,” she said. “The entire time I’m in this district, we’ll be talking about getting on the same page about what good instruction looks like. I think that’s hugely important.”

According to Wright, that continuity is extended beyond the district through Common Core Standards, which she said levels the playing field for students competing in the job market against other graduates across the state and across the country.

“We need to make sure we’re teaching at the same level rigor,” she said. “Rigor is about reaching a depth of understanding that’s not surface level, and that looks different in every subject and even in every classroom.”

Wright said there is a misconception that the federal government devised Common Core Standards, but they were in fact created by the Governor’s Association with help from educators from around the country.

“These standards benefit systems like Enterprise and Madison City Schools that have a lot of students moving in and out,” Wright said. “This makes sure everything is the same across the board. Before CCS, every state had different objectives and trajectories and transferring students could completely miss some concepts.”

Wright said the learning progression is now clear, and systems have a good idea where a student in any grade level should be in their education process.

Common Core is used along with additional content created by Alabama to set the standards of what students must learn.

However, Wright said local districts are still completely in charge of how those standards are met.

“Curriculum is developed at the district level,” she said. “We decide how to teach and we decide what resources, assignments and content we use.”

While the increased rigor of the new standards has been criticized by parents and some educators, Wright said teaching to that level will give students a deeper understanding and prevent teachers from re-teaching the same material every year.

She also discussed the changing culture of education, and a shift from teachers exclusively working with their students to professional learning communities made up of fellow teachers, students, parents and administrators.

“In the past, teachers would go into their room, shut the door and do their thing,” Wright said. “You can’t teach these CCRS standards that way, but collectively, we can do anything. We’ve got to find our experts, empower them and get them to lead others in and beyond the district.”

Wright said education is entering an area of teachers helping teachers, which rests on teacher assessment and mutual accountability.

“When we’re all working together to improve and we’re collectively responsible for student achievement, that’s when it’s beautiful,” Wright said. “If I’m coming into your classroom, I’m not there to (find) where are you (performing) badly, I'm trying to see where we can help you improve.”