Student
Achievement Specialists Support Cluster-Area Schools
December 20, 2006
A
former middle school principal, elementary school special education
team leader, and high school humanities teacher form the core of
a new leadership team implemented this school year to support student
achievement in Plano schools.
Pictured (l-r) Laura
Morgan, Tonya Horton and Karen Pollard
Appointed
by the district’s area assistant superintendents, the three
student achievement specialists serve as administrative liaisons
between schools and administrators to help facilitate student success.
“Their
role is to interface with area assistant superintendents, work
with campus principals and the curriculum and assessment departments
to identify areas
where we can improve student achievement,” said Jeff Bailey, east
cluster area assistant superintendent. “Among their many responsibilities
is to assist with principal training and campus improvement plans. They
are also
to
be experts in helping us interpret No Child Left Behind laws, AEIS and
TAKS data.”
Tonya
Horton, east cluster specialist, formerly served as assistant principal
and principal at Bowman Middle School. She works
with the district’s 26
east cluster schools, coordinating vertical teaming meetings, and she facilitates
ongoing professional development programs such as Ruby Payne’s “Framework
for Understanding Poverty,” which is geared to “understanding
students’ circumstances,
but not allowing those circumstances to determine their future,” she
said.
Laura
Morgan, west cluster specialist, has served as special education
team leader
at Rose Haggar Elementary and has taught special education at Meadows
Elementary. Her mother Nancy Giles teaches reading at Bowman Middle
School. “A
misconception about Plano is that the needs of our students are different
from cluster to cluster,” she
said. Her colleagues agree that the numbers of students are different but
that their needs are the same. “Connecting district departments with
campus needs” is how she describes her role.
Karen
Pollard, a teacher at Vines High School for the past 23 years,
shares her time among central
cluster schools,
collaborating with administrators and teachers to “see the big picture.” “Karen
helps us identify students who are struggling,” said Vines Principal
Roxanne Burleson. “She runs student profiles, trains teachers on
analyzing assessment data and pulls together information for our school
based improvement
committee
meetings. She helps us make sound decisions while allowing us to focus
on working with kids.”
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