What were the human resources at Franklin?
ISD required Principal Hoffman to reallocate her staff in
order to maximize time in classrooms with students. She used
her Comprehensive School
Reform grant to provide training for her staff. She hired
dually certified new teachers, hired a new Bilingual Resource
Specialist, and encouraged action research by her teachers
to explore dimensions of ISD.
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Dual Certification
Reducing class size through ISD depended on staff
trained in special education and ESL. The CSR
grant provided courses for teachers to learn strategies
for engaging Limited English Proficient learners. Franklin went from three outside-the-classroom ESL teacher to nine ESL certified
classroom teachers. Principal Hoffman also concentrated on hiring
new staff with experience in general and special education.
New teachers are hired with the understanding that
they must eventually complete ESL certification.
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Bilingual Resource Specialist
The early success of ISD depended on Bilingual Resource Specialist Nahbee Her to communicate the intent of ISD to the Hmong community. Hmong families made up the largest percentage of the Franklin's LEP students - support of their parents was essential for the success of ISD. Some Hmong families felt threatened by the withdrawal of pullout services. With Her's help, Deb helped persuade Hmong families that ISD would work for them.
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Action research by teachers
Franklin teachers independently investigated ISD practices.
One teacher developed a
Spencer Foundation Grant to research English language
learning in her classroom; another received
a Rennebohm Scholars Grant through the school
district to empower families of color in the educational process at Franklin School.
Together, these action research projects
helped reinforce the place and the value of ISD at Franklin.
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Parents
Principal Hoffman conducted parents meetings
to find out parent concerns and attitudes about service
delivery. During ISD implementation, Franklin hosted a
variety of parent meetings on topics from classroom curriculum
to how to help children at home to understanding the new
standards-based report card. These meetings, often targeted
at the parents of students who traditionally struggle,
provided a place for parents to give opinion and get information
in the interest of their children education.
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Partly cited from Capper, C. (forthcoming).
"Social justice through resource reallocation and academic
assessment." In Capper, C. and Young, M. (Eds.) Educational Leaders
for Social Justice. Teachers College Press.
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