District’s Superintendent’s Schools Get New Support

Marcia Baldanza, the new Principal on Special Assignment to the District’s underperforming schools, or Superintendent’s Schools, has been a principal, assistant principal and teacher both in this country and overseas. In Virginia, where she worked as a principal in the Alexandria City Public Schools prior to coming to Broward County this summer, she earned a reputation as a turnaround artist who implemented programs that effectively advanced student performance in schools that were languishing prior to her arrival.

Marcia Baldanza took time out from her busy schedule recently to talk about her plans for the 33 Superintendent’s Schools currently in the District.

Q. What are Superintendent’s Schools?
A. Superintendent’s Schools are schools that have been identified as needing assistance to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). And we have three levels of schools, Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3. They are identified and categorized based on their student achievement data and then receive support according to those levels.

Q. Tell us a little bit about your background and what you have done in the field of education in the past.
A. My background includes an elementary teaching background in grades 1 and 3 and middle school, teaching grade 6. I have a special education background and have been an academic director in a K-12 setting, as well as an elementary principal for the past 10 years.

Q. What is the plan and proposal for trying to
turn the Superintendent’s Schools around?
A. Our plans for turning these schools around include providing them with a level of support that they didn’t have in the past. And that level of support comes in the way of some financing and support through the CNET (Collaborative Network) which is a collaboration among our Title 1 staff, our Research & Evaluation Department, our ESOL Department and our Exceptional Student Education Department. And on a needs basis, we provide support for our elementary, middle and high schools that fall into our Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 categories.

Q. What is the Superintendent’s One Voice Plan for this area?
A. The Superintendent’s One Voice Plan is built on the philosophy that we want to have one voice communicating to our schools - all of our schools - primarily our Superintendent’s Schools. We want to be able to have one voice talking about what would be present, observable and what you could listen for in schools that have a commitment to high expectations for all students. And we look at that in a way that breaks out what’s required in elementary school, what it looks like in middle school and what it looks like in high school. Specifically, we identified eight or 10 different elements that should be seen in all schools in Broward County. These things include making sure that all of our classrooms have instructional materials and a positive and productive classroom environment. We are looking at scheduling of instruction to be sure that targeted students are placed appropriately. We want to make sure that the Eight Step process is in place at all of our schools, but particularly in our Superintendent’s Schools.

Q. All of the Superintendent’s Schools have principals and leadership teams in place. What is going to be your role in assisting these schools to advance student performance?
A. My role is to make sure that people are staying true to the plan and are not being distracted by things that happen that aren’t directly related to improving student achievement. When a principal is spending too much time in the office disciplining students and not enough time in classrooms, we need to look systemically at what do we need to do in that school to make sure there’s a process in place, so that the principal can actually get in the classrooms and talk to students about what they’re learning and monitor the instructional practice. So, my role is to be a support role, but also to help principals stay focused with one voice and one message for all of the schools of Broward County.

Hear a more extensive audio interview with Ms. Baldanza on the District’s Web site (www.browardschools.com).

Pompano Elementary School, World War I vintage photo Image courtesy of Bud Garner, Pompano Beach Historian