Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 1 · column 4 of 4 · from the scan, no model involved
lot of the staff is involved
in hoopjumping. We have to
make sure we clear all the
hoops."
— Dr. David Gangel
School superintendent
A great deal of time, effort, and paperwork has gone into this process, according to Superintendent David Gangel. However, teachers and administrators agree that the process is valuable in that it forces them to work together, to see what the various department and grade levels are doing, to reflect on how what goes on in the schools fits in with the stated educational philosophy.
“I think it is worth it,” Mary Ann Biggs, assistant principal at the elementary school said, “but it's nothing you’d volunteer for. It just takes up so much time."
In preparation for these evaluations Assistant Superintendant Rpbert Chappell served on the committee for an Administrative Review in another Virginia school system last year, and high school Principal John Toth was on a visiting committee last year. No one from the elementary school staff worked on a visiting committee last year, but both Principal Bemie Chesshir and Ms Biggs have been on visiting committees in the past.
Mr. Chappell was given overall responsibility for preparing for the Administrative Review. Hundreds of questions were on lists that the administration has to be prepared to answrer. Mr. Chappell has prepared boxes of file folders for the central administration and for each school. Each file folder is labelled with one of the questions. Written documentation to support answers to each question is being filed in the folders.
“This is a huge, huge undertaking to do it right," Dr. Gangel said. “A lot of the staff is involved in hoop jumping. We have to make sure we clear all the hoops."
Many questions start out, "Does the school system have a policy on ... " In many cases there was no written policy. So for the past three School Board meetings the members have been considering and adopting new policies, including paid leave for staff members w ith military obligations, such as National Guard membership, possession of “beepers” by students, homework, the use of hazardous equipment, homework, and discipline.
Now, when a member of the Administrative Review
See EXAM, p. 14
84.9%