TVEA Spotlight @ TVUSD Board Meeting
Good Evening TVUSD Governing Board,
I am pleased to provide a TVEA update to you in this Spotlight time tonight.
Our twelve- member elected Executive Board held our fall workshop in early September. One of the outcomes is that we developed a consistent message which we believe succinctly describes our more than 1350 teachers and specialists:
“Proven Leaders of Student Success”
Student Success in Temecula schools has been a long standing tradition. Whether our members are in their 40th year (Shout Out to Debbie Knapp at Vintage Hills!) or their first year (Shout Out to our new teachers!), we are confident that they are providing the leadership, motivation, and inspiration to drive students toward academic success.
Under the “Proven Leaders of Student Success” tagline we came to consensus on three qualities which support this assertion about our members.
These are:
1) Dedicated- To Supporting All Students and our Community
2) Committed- To Providing a Quality Education
3) Advocates – For Improving Teaching and Learning Conditions
We believe these descriptors encapsulate the good work our people are doing.
There are a couple of projects that TVEA is working on in collaboration with the district that I would like to share at this time:
First, the intent to recognize our TVUSD Alumni who are now “Paying it Forward” by returning to TVUSD as teachers or specialists. Between TVEA and TVUSD we have identified about sixty (60) TVUSD Alumni, including fourteen joining us this year. We believe there are more out there, in the trenches, quietly doing the work of moving students toward academic success. Last week, TVEA met with Laura Boss and Raymond Johnson to develop a plan to bring these TVUSD Alumni under one roof for a recognition soon. We are scheduled to meet again next week.
The other item I would like to update you on is our work with TVUSD in regard to Professional Learning Communities or PLC’s.
You may recall that back in April I shared the results of a survey among our elementary teachers which suggested that most teachers embrace professional learning communities yet would like more autonomy and flexibility at the grade level team level.
In meeting with Superintendent Ritter and Assistant Superintendent McClay we took steps to address the issue.
A PLC Study Group was formed consisting of five elementary teachers, three elementary principals, Ms. Clay and myself.
After much fine tuning, the result is a “PLC Clarifications Chart” which clarifies what are common PLC Activities versus Non-PLC Activities. We are pleased with the inclusion of “Gather and/or Share Resources” here. We believe this promotes efficiency in the collaboration process. In the charts supporting text, it states that “Agendas and Assignments should be created primarily at the discretion of the team”. We believe that this empowers allows each grade level team when to set an agenda which meets their particular team needs.
While this document in and of itself cannot create the consistency sought in PLC Principles across sites, it will be a support and reference tool for ongoing PLC discussions which are essential to a healthy collaborative PLC process.
I would like to thank Assistant Superintendent Mc Clay for her persistent efforts in working with TVEA to clarify expectations for this critical piece of our member’s work week.
That concludes the TVEA Spotlight for October.
