How did Franklin leaders identify
school problems?
Principal Hoffman understood that revamping traditional service delivery
would require comprehensive restructuring. To solicit the perspectives and support of school stakeholders, Deb used the district
mandated Needs Assessment and Strategic Planning Process to
find out community perceptions of what needed to be changed
in the school.
Needs Assessment
The Madison
Metropolitan School District required schools to solicit teacher and parent opinions in an annual Needs Assessment. Deb found that teachers felt smaller class size and lower
student/teacher ratio would make a big difference and that parents and teachers alike felt
the ethnic diversity of the school community was a strength.
Strategic
Planning Process
The District also required the Franklin-Randall school partnership to engage in a Strategic
Planning Process. This process involving six working groups of parents and
teachers to identify and address needs in (a) teaching and learning, (b) professional development,
(c) communication, (d) school environment, (e) resources,
and (f) parental involvement.
The Strategic Planning committee's major recommendation was
to reduce the 24:1 average class size. Team members believed
that reducing class size would address many of the concerns
within each work group.
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