The district has done an exemplary job in that regard. Trujillo also praised teachers and parents in the district for being forthright in their assessments of why test scores have been so poor, and what needs to be done to improve the district's Educational Plan for Student Success. But most of all, Trujillo said accreditation team members were especially impressed with the students in the Gadsden school district. Several recommendations were made by Trujillo, and leaders of the accreditation team, which included Louella Buchanan and Kay Tenorio, co-chairs of the accreditation team, and Pat Rael, director of management intervention and accreditation with the state Department of Education. Buchanan is assistant director for the state Department of Education's school health unit, and Tenorio is assistant director for North Central Accreditation.
All school principals know about the plan and teachers understand the goal.
It's up to the teachers, principals and parents to work together to see that this is happening at the schools. Improvement in the district's early reading programs and bilingual education were two areas that the accreditation team determined that the Gadsden district needs to focus on. Teachers at every other grade in between need to understand what it is that the teacher before them, or that will follow them, is trying to do in developing learning skills. That way, the process is much more consistent and the student has a much better chance to succeed academically because they have those previous learning tools to fall back on. Another finding of the accreditation team is that bilingual education in the district needs to be more consistent.