LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — On Tuesday night, I spent over three hours listening to the three candidates vying for the top position in the Clark County School District discuss their plans for the district's future.
Their strategies differ, but all aim to give a boost in what they believe is the right direction. Two of the biggest issues present right now? Academic achievement and teacher retention.
▶ Watch Search for the new CCSD superintendent coming to a close
Academic achievement
The latest reports put CCSD's graduation rate at 81.5%, an improvement over the last few years, but I wanted to find out how they plan to make that better — among other issues in the district.
Jhone Ebert, the Nevada State Superintendent of Public Instruction and first candidate interviewee, focused on a competency-based approach to handling academic achievement versus an outdated time-bound system present in most schools today. She had this to say to the district Board of Trustees:
“Shifting from time-bound system to competency-based system is not only going to help us with our funding.. return on investment, but children knowing that they are successful and teachers knowing too that they’re not moving a child on just because of their grade or their age but their moving a child forward because they’re ready and they know the content and the curriculum," Ebert said to the board.
Ebert said that some schools in the district are already implementing a competency-based approach (that she said is working), and the district as a whole should be focused on identifying career pathways for children early on. She also pitched the idea of extended school days as well as an extended academic year.
▶ Related CCSD elementary school to earn award for academic performance and educational equity
The next interviewee, Ben Shuldiner, who currently serves as the superintendent of the Lansing School District in Michigan, said he understand each student's needs are different — so there should be a more tailored approach to the individual.
He emphasized this "tailored approach" more when he touched on special education in the district. Despite an overarching acceptable graduation rate, he said the latest state report shows a significant drop in graduating students with IEPs, or individualized education programs, in the last three years (72% to 54%). He said the dropout rate got worse, too, rising to 32% from just 14% three years ago.
Unified decision-making will benefit every member of the district, according to Shuldiner, from administrators to teachers to students.
“We need to just be very clear about picking what do we want to do to move this district, have it be co-created, put it on the wall and every decision that we make — when we’re thinking about funding, when we’re thinking about hiring… we say, will this move the graduation? Will this move attendance? Will this move lowering the vacancies? Will this lower the number of one star schools? That’s how you do it," Shuldiner said to the board.
And the third finalist, Dr. Jesse Welsh, the CEO of Nevada State High School, said he wants to address disparities in student achievement by improving access to tutoring and after-school programs.
“I do think that when we’re seeing that students are not achieving at the level that they should be, we need to be providing interventions to help support those kids… whether it be after-school tutoring, whether it be summer programs, like we’re not doing what we need to if we’re just ignoring that problem and thinking it’s going to get solved the next year," Welsh said to the board.
When asked how he could scale up prior success from prior professional experiences, he suggested pilot programs to meet the needs of students. He also said he's aware that it's the responsibility of a superintendent to ensure continuity and reinforce programs that work.
The Board of Trustees agreed that improving academic outcomes will be a key focus moving forward, as right now, CCSD sits among some of the lowest national proficiency averages.
▶ Watch See how CCSD superintendent candidates answered your questions at a community forum
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Teacher recruiting and retention
CCSD continues to struggle finding and keeping qualified educators. More than 700 positions are still unfilled, but a plan to fix this problem will accompany whoever takes the superintendent spot.
With hundreds of teacher vacancies in CCSD, finding and keeping qualified educators is a top concern for our community.
It's about strengthening current venues and compensation for teachers, according to Ebert, and giving them support to show they're valued and respected.
“With the pay, the compensation, the pathway.. making sure that teachers have the support they need in a classroom on a daily basis.. we will be successful as a system," Ebert said.
For Shuldiner, he said he would focus on streamlining the hiring process and offering competitive benefits.
"One, you’ve got to work with the union, because there are ways to use union contracts to be thoughtful about finding ways to incentivize going to certain schools. The second is redo your HR system.. another one, which is both the difficult and hard one, is you’ve got to increase pay,“ Shuldiner said.
Welsh said we have to expand recruitment efforts and also echoes that faculty and staff need to feel supported.
“I believe it’s really important to hire good people… give them the resources, the information that they need… get out of their way and let them know what you’re expecting in terms of results. That’s my leadership style,” Welsh said.
Each candidate said in their interviews that fixing the teacher shortage is a top priority.
The final decision on who is chosen for the district's top job is now in the hands of the school board, and that decision is expected to be announced on Thursday.
Did you miss the interviews? Don't worry! You can watch the full livestream right here!