Q & A: Chiefs of five school districts talk reform — and describe their biggest wish
With the new school year upon us, we asked a handful of superintendents of districts in the greater Washington area to answer six questions so we could get a better understanding of their vision and challenges.
Th school district chiefs were asked to talk about teacher evaluation, class size, new initiatives and more, including the one thing they would do to improve their districts if they had the power to get it done. And it turns out that they all don’t agree on a number of issues.
Kaya Henderson (Marvin Joseph/THE WASHINGTON POST )The school chiefs who responded are Kaya Henderson of Washington, D.C.; Joshua Starr of Montgomery County; Jack Dale of Fairfax County; Edgar B. Hatrick of Loudoun County; and Morton Sherman of Alexandria.
Here are the questions and answers:
1) MEASURE OF SUCCESS:
Now that the Obama administration’s waivers have dropped the No Child Left Behind measures of school success and failure, we’d like to know how you think schools should be measured each year. What are the most legitimate metrics? How do you decide whether a school year has been a success?
HENDERSON: We’ve been really clear that we will define our success through our strategic plan that we announced earlier this year called A Capital Commitment. The plan includes five bold goals to ensure our students are successful, including improving achievement rates,