Loya- Stand Up 4 Public Schools by Diana Loya

My Aspirations Upon Completion of my Degree

dloya1 — 2019-01-14 19:29:09 UTC

After completing my graduate degree, I aspire to become a principal or step into curriculum even farther. I am currently a Reading Instructional Coach at one of our elementaries. I love my job and I know my graduate degree would only enhance it. I also believe growing and always learning is a part of who I am and I shouldn't stop there. I do aspire to be a principal someday, but would much rather be the curriculum director for our district. My heart is with the education of students and teachers as well. I love learning and growing as an educator. I had started my master's when I became a Reading Recovery teacher at our campus. I knew I had to continue going to school once I got promoted to Instructional Coach shortly after that.

Option 1

dloya1 — 2019-01-19 18:53:41 UTC

I am very fortunate to have one of my best friends be the one I interviewed. Jennifer Mills is an assistant principal at one of our district's elementaries. Upon Speaking with her, special education came up in the conversation. She deals with sitting in and preparing ARDs at her campus much of her time. Upon lengthy discussion these are the 5 things I learned through our conversation:

1. I learned Special Education is in trouble in the state of Texas and steps are being taken in order to follow the laws correctly. Paperwork, interventions, testing and following the required time and interventions has become a crucial aspect of the districts steps to fix this.
2. Assistant principals in our district mainly have to deal with attendance and PEIMS as their responsibility.
3. Confidentiality is something that is always something to keep in mind when working with employees or students. When it comes to employees, she deals with making sure their contract is correct and is followed to the fullest. There could be so many legal implications when a contract is not followed or a teacher is fired. Documentation is key.
4. As an assistant principal there are always training to help with legal and ethical issues. They also train in documentation when hired as assistant principal.
5. Our local Service center does all of the legal and ethical trainings for all teachers and principals in order to keep us current.

(Jennifer Mills, personal communication, January 17, 2019)

Stand Up 4 Public Schools

dloya1 — 2019-01-20 19:01:36 UTC

Upon researching the many legal and ethical issues surrounding not only our state, but our country as well, I decided to pick Stand Up 4 Public Schools. I feel very connected to this issue because not only am I a public school educator, but I also have worked for a title 1 school my whole entire career.

Exploration option 2- NSBA

dloya1 — 2019-01-20 19:08:34 UTC

As I searched through the many topics on this website, the issue on ESSA caught my attention. I had some knowledge as to what ESSA was. Every Student Succeeds Act has been an issue surrounding education so much, that every teacher in our district is well aware of what it means. Many of the websites I have been to only provide information over what ESSA means and asks for input from educators as to what should be used along with testing to monitor student achievement and rating schools. What I learned on the NSBA website was that NSBA wrote comments to the U.S. Department of Education over what they think is needed in order to implement ESSA. It provided a number of steps the Department of Education should take in order to implement ESSA. This was very different from what I had seen before. It is a well written document putting pressure on the US ED as to what their job should be.

Another issue that caught my attention during my exploration of this website, was the mention to Stand Up 4 Public Schools. When I clicked on this issue it took me to their specific website. What I did notice as soon as I went to this website, was that they say they are the "leading advocates for public education".

https://www.nsba.org/nsbas-written-comments-ed-essa-implementation

Option 2- NEA

dloya1 — 2019-01-20 19:40:33 UTC

NEA was a website that was a little harder to maneuver through. There seemed to not be as much information to read on each selected topic. What I found upon choosing the issue on Raise Your Hand for Public Education is that it is very similar to Stand Up 4 Public Education. I was left to wonder on this issue, if it was the same thing and was just not written. It went on to talk about the criteria good public schools should have to ensure student achievement. When I clicked on the criteria, I noticed it was very specific, but made sense for public education to keep up with these things. Some of the criteria included were attendance, professional development of educators and technology among many others. It was very knowledgeable and good to read and try to implement in our district.

Another topic that searched on this website was ESSA. Again, it seemed to me that ESSA has become a huge topic of conversation. On this website it clearly stated that it was something teachers have been wanting for many years. In this website though, it provided an opportunity for the public to have input over what criteria should be used to implement ESSA. You had the ability to sign up and choose from many criteria.

http://www.nea.org/home/65276.htm

StandUp4PublicSchools. com

dloya1 — 2019-01-20 21:19:52 UTC

When I was researching through the NSBA website, it found the link to Standup4publicschool.com. This website was a wonderful website to look for all information regarding this issue. It stems from the original issue our public schools are facing. It has evolved with candidates wanting to have vouchers for parents in order to have access to private schooling. This campaign proves and helps people to realize the importance and the amazing things that happen in public education every day. There are videos with children with testimonials over public education.

http://www.standup4publicschools.com/

Research from ASU library

dloya1 — 2019-01-20 21:33:53 UTC

During my research over this topic in the ASU library, I couldn't find something that specifically spoke about this movement because it comes from NSBA, but I did find a news article that directly brought in Hollywood. We know how much celebrities and the media have an impact in politics and I was glad to see a director be an advocate for this movement. In this article from business wire, it gave information about the connection between director Steve McQueen and NSBA's movement for a better public education. It shared information about why and how NSBA started this movement and it liked it to 21st century learning. That's when I realized the connection to the actual issue surrounding this movement.

Director Steve McQueen Shares NSBA’s “Stand Up 4 Public Schools” Wristband as He Accepts Academy Award for Best Picture. Business Wire, [s. l.], 2014. Disponível em: . Acesso em: 20 jan. 2019.

Summary over Stand Up 4 Public Education

dloya1 — 2019-01-20 21:39:18 UTC

There are some many legal and ethical issues surrounding our education system that are so interesting and upon my research, there was one that completely stole my attention.
At first it was hard for me to find the connection as I searched through the issues in all the websites, but it wasn't until I went and looked for articles in the library that I discovered the connection to the real issue.
Public schools have been under fire from the federal government over test scores and data showing our public schools are not performing well. There has been a huge movement from the legislators to not fund public education as they have before. There have also been candidates that are for vouchers for private education. All of these issues ensure the end of public education.
It is very near and dear to me to fight for public education, because I have been a teacher at a title 1 school for a decade. I know the importance of being able to provide quality education to ALL students. Public education ensures our kids in poverty have a chance at success. Kids in rural areas can be provided with quality education as well.
I believe that's where this movement has stemmed from. NSBA has ensured a movement that makes public schools apt for 21st century learning. It ensures public education will provide not only quality education to all students, but education that is above and beyond what we have now.
It makes me really excited to have a movement that combats the difficulty public education has been facing. The option is not to get rid of public education, but to ensure that public education becomes quality education for all!!

References

dloya1 — 2019-01-20 21:50:33 UTC

(Jennifer Mills, personal communication, January 17, 2019)

ESSA Implementation (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/home/65276.htm
Raise Your Hand for Public Education (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/home/raiseyourhand.htm

NSBA's Written Comments to ED on ESSA Implementation (Jan 25, 2016) Retrieved from https://www.nsba.org/nsbas-written-comments-ed-essa-implementation

About the Campaign (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.standup4publicschools.com

Director Steve McQueen Shares NSBA’s “Stand Up 4 Public Schools” Wristband as He Accepts Academy Award for Best Picture. Business Wire, [s. l.], 2014. Disponível em: . Acesso em: 20 jan. 2019.