Thursday, September 17, 2009

Education Week: Expected Turnaround Aid Has Districts Eager, Wary


Education Week: Expected Turnaround Aid Has Districts Eager, Wary:

"Those choices don’t leave school leaders much room to scale up programs that seem to be working at the local level, said Carlos Garcia, the superintendent of the 55,270-student San Francisco district.

“There can’t be a cookie-cutter approach to this,” Mr. Garcia said, particularly since any interventions will need buy-in from school staff members, parents, and the community to be successful and sustainable. “Do they think we’re incapable of creating models for transformation?”

San Francisco has had success in offering principals and teachers in low-performing schools intensive professional development, he noted. He would like to be able to consider continuing that practice with the new resources."