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| United Teachers of Richmond members Jacqueline Huerta and Rocio Reyes participate as a team with parent Sheila Persons in a QEIA discussion at Summer Institute. |
Connecting with learning teams of parents, administrators and teachers — and seeing that her ideas will really make a difference — is what Rocio Reyes found useful at the CTA Summer Institute at UCLA in August. She attended training sessions that covered nearly every aspect of the Quality Education Investment Act (QEIA), the CTA-sponsored school intervention law.
Scanning the room during one breakout session, where more than 250 people attended the successful training, Reyes, a third-year teacher from Helms Middle School in San Pablo in the West Contra Costa Unified School District, was encouraged to see her administrators present. Their collaboration means the struggling students she teaches will be given a chance.
“I think that was the most important thing this week — being able to voice what I really think will work, and having them listen, and having us work as a team,” said Reyes of the training’s teamwork emphasis. “It’s helped me to see that teachers have to be leaders.”
She is excited because QEIA funding will reduce the maximum number of students in her school’s seventh- and eighth-grade classrooms from 35 to 20, providing an environment for more effective one-on-one teaching. New “reflective meetings” on her campus will enable teachers to talk about what’s working well, said Reyes, and may include students in the discussions as well.
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| Keynote speaker Andy Hargreaves from Boston College talks about sustaining school leadership. |
QEIA, California’s landmark law (SB 1133) of 2006, provides $2.9 billion over seven years to 488 schools statewide to reduce class sizes, hire additional counselors, have qualified teachers in all core subjects, and provide quality training for teachers and principals. These schools of greatest need will receive $385 million allotted by the state this fiscal year to build a program of sustainable school improvement to close student achievement gaps and prevent dropouts.
The QEIA funding is not threatened by the current state budget crisis because it stems from the settlement of a lawsuit CTA filed a few years ago against the governor after the state refused to return education funding used in a prior budget crisis.
“This remarkable training shows our continued commitment toward helping our students who need help the most by bringing together all stakeholders to make this law a force for sustainable change in these targeted schools,” said CTA President David A. Sanchez. “We secured this funding to make a permanent difference in the lives of tens of thousands of students.”
The popular QEIA training was offered by the CTA Instruction and Professional Development Department and was part of CTA’s annual Summer Institute at UCLA for 1,200 teachers and education support professionals. Classroom instruction, cultural diversity and QEIA team leadership were stressed. Dynamic sessions covered such topics as the role of unions in education reform, identifying leadership qualities, the impact of teacher leadership in transforming schools, and how to build trust.
Many participants at the training were buzzing about the smaller classes that will result as the QEIA program moves from last year’s emphasis on planning to actual implementation.
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| Members actively engaged during QEIA session. |
Teachers and administrators from Sierra Intermediate School in the Santa Ana Unified School District credited the law with reducing class sizes in sixth grade from nearly 40 before QEIA to about 27 this fall.
“Thanks to QEIA, we are hiring more teachers” who are needed to reduce class sizes at Sierra, said Assistant Principal Meg Lloyd, sitting at one table with teacher Michele Goddard.
Goddard, a Santa Ana Educators Association member, said the depth of the CTA training was tremendous. “It’s been very, very valuable. It’s extremely relevant to what we’re doing and will enable us to go back to our school site and let everyone else know what QEIA is all about.”
Keynote speeches and presentations by education experts offered tips and insights.
Robert Marzano, a senior scholar with Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning in Denver, spoke on “The Art and Science of Teaching,” drawing on his 35 years in the education field and his authorship of more than 20 books.
What works in schools, said Marzano, is more effective instructional and classroom management strategies, along with better curriculum design — and it helps to accept that not all students are occupied in learning at all times. “No teacher has every kid engaged every second. It’s always a fight and there are things you can do.”
He stressed communication of learning goals, tracking student progress and celebrating student successes.
Andy Hargreaves, the Thomas More Brennan Chair of Education in the Lynch School of Education at Boston College, spoke about “Sustaining School Leadership.”
He offered five guides for building sustainable school success: having an inclusive vision, public engagement, more investment in schools, inviting socially responsible corporations to the “educational policy table,” and looking at students as partners in change.
Inspiring students to care about learning really works, he said. “The way you get achievement is through engagement.”
Kimberly Thomas Rapp, director of law and public policy for the Equal Justice Society, spoke about “School Climate, Culture, Race and Community.” She provided ideas about overcoming unconscious bias that can affect school achievement, warning that racial and other stereotypes of which we are “completely unaware” can have major negative impacts on learning.
For more CTA information about QEIA and related issues, including how to sign up for upcoming clinics for instructional coaches offered by the Los Angeles County Office of Education and to read more from the keynote speakers, go to www.cta.org/issues/current/QEIA.htm.
Mike Myslinski
