Paid Advertisement
Continued from Page 8
of the effort, during which educators
gained greater autonomy over professional development and lesson
delivery.
MTA President Barbara Madeloni
and SEA President Tim Collins joined
Eskelsen García and NEA Foundation
President Harriet Sanford for tours
of Dorman and the Samuel Bowles
School, both of which were among the
grant recipients.
In addition to making home
visits, Dorman educators worked
with community partners to create
extended learning time programs, such
as a summer literacy camp held at the
school.
During the tour, visitors sat in with
a team of Bowles teachers observing a
fourth-grade writing lesson. Afterward,
substitutes took over classes for the
day so that classroom educators, the
principal and a coach could meet to
discuss techniques that would best
meet students’ needs and avoid a “one-
size-fits-all” approach.
The larger team observations and
briefings occur periodically throughout
the year, allowing educators to shape
lessons around their own classroom
observations — providing a form of
data collection that has nothing to do
with bubble tests.
Educators in the collaboration
also drove some of the professional
development they received.
SEA Vice President Maureen
Colgan Posner gave one example of
that at the Sumner Avenue School.
“This year we picked one topic to
focus on, and that was the social and
emotional health of children,” she said.
“That’s what teachers really wanted to
learn about and felt they needed help
with. Our principal listened and made
Posner pointed out that education
still tends to be a “top-down” system,
but she said it does not have to be that
way.
“Sumner Avenue shows what can
happen when we start collaborating
and we start letting teachers be the
leaders,” she said. “That’s good
for educators. That’s good for
administration, and it’s especially good
for kids.”
Madeloni said that the results of
the program in Springfield are just
what she would expect to see in an
environment in which educators are
empowered.
“I saw teachers working together,
using their professional knowledge
and judgment to make decisions for
the students in their classrooms,” she
said. “I heard from parents who were
welcomed to the school and became
active in the school community.”
Madeloni said she hopes that
as MTA members organize and use
their collective power in alliance
with parents and the community, “we
should not rely on foundations for this
type of funding, but have the public
funding to initiate, support and sustain
grassroots efforts to give every student
in Massachusetts a high-quality
education and every educator the
autonomy and respect to lead the way
in creating great schools.”
She said the team would ask
members to define those “big issues,”
then follow up with a survey as they
decide how to approach the School
Committee.
The team is unsure whether it will
pursue open bargaining this time, she
said, but the summit “brought back
some enthusiasm” for the bargaining
process. “We’re excited about that,” she
said.
Participants at the summit also
got a surprise visit from presidential
candidate Bernie Sanders, who stopped
by on his way to a rally in the city.
Sanders lauded the educators, calling
them “the heroes and heroines of
America today, with an enormously
Summit helps members focus on ‘big issues’
Continued from Page 9
Powered by
Travel to More Than 900
Destinations Worldwide!
www.mtavacations.com
• Discounts on hotel/flight packages
• Big savings on last-minute getaways
• No blackout dates
• Members receive MTA 5% discount
JOIN THE THOUSANDS OF SALEM
STATE ALUMNI WHO ARE LEADERS IN
EDUCATION BY ENROLLING IN ONE OF
OUR GRADUATE PROGRAMS.
Choose from our master’s degrees,
educator licensure programs, graduate
certificates and CAGS in Education,
depending on your credentialing and
content–area needs.
salemstate.edu/graduate • 978.542.6323
