Anthony Cody spent 24 years working in Oakland schools, 18 of them as a science teacher at a high needs middle school. He is National Board certified, and now leads workshops with teachers focused on Project Based Learning. With education at a crossroads, he invites you to join him in a dialogue on education reform and teaching for change and deep learning. For additional information on Cody's work, visit his Web site, Teachers Lead. Or follow him on Twitter.
Ellen Holmes: NEA's Priority Schools Focus on Teacher Expertise, Parent and Community Involvement
This week I have been looking at the issue of Turnarounds and the Department of Education's School Improvement Grants, drawing from a conference I attended sponsored by the Education Writers Association. One of the speakers there was a former teacher named Ellen Holmes, who now leads the National Education Association's Priority Schools Campaign. I asked her to explain more about their work in this area.
Anthony: What is the NEA's Priority Schools project?
Anthony: What is the NEA's Priority Schools project?
Ellen Holmes:
The Priority Schools Campaign is the NEA's commitment to struggling schools. The Campaign was born at the 2009 NEA Representative Assembly, an annual democratic meeting of 10,000 members, who decided that supporting students in struggling schools was a priority for the nation's largest teachers union. Priority Schools are any schools that received School Improvement Grants. All of them are Title 1 or Title 1 eligible - serving poor students - and most of them serve large numbers of minority and English language learners. Most of these schools had only a few short months -weeks in some cases- to apply for, plan and begin implementing sweeping school based reforms. Because of this challenge the Priority Schools Campaign has committed resources (people, technical assistance, grants, media and
The Priority Schools Campaign is the NEA's commitment to struggling schools. The Campaign was born at the 2009 NEA Representative Assembly, an annual democratic meeting of 10,000 members, who decided that supporting students in struggling schools was a priority for the nation's largest teachers union. Priority Schools are any schools that received School Improvement Grants. All of them are Title 1 or Title 1 eligible - serving poor students - and most of them serve large numbers of minority and English language learners. Most of these schools had only a few short months -weeks in some cases- to apply for, plan and begin implementing sweeping school based reforms. Because of this challenge the Priority Schools Campaign has committed resources (people, technical assistance, grants, media and