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"Public educators are charged with educating the masses. We can't pick and choose whom we accept. At the same time, we teach a broader curriculum than at any time in history. So we're teaching more to students who used to be considered 'unteachable.' That's a challenge."
-- Dr. William Lewis, Executive Director, The Mississippi Forum for Public Education
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What are we demanding of our schools? Do more, do it with the same resources you've always had, and do it better. Pretty high demands. The criticism can be harsh. According to Mr. Sellers, "We are largely judged by what the public reads in the newspaper about how we've performed on the tests." That's the reality that public educators live with, and Jackson Public Schools is no exception.
In Jackson, Mississippi, as in many other communities, some of the challenges of providing a quality education today are:
- Mississippi is moving to school-by-school accreditation; individual schools that are succeeding or failing will no longer be viewed within the larger overall performance of the district. Test scores are published in the local papers.
- There is more to education than test scores; there are relationships and social dynamics. Public schools are still the primary place where these interactions occur.
- There are more choices of educational setting: public schools, private schools, church-affiliated schools, and home schools. In a competitive environment, resources diminish, and self-selected populations tend to be homogenous.
- Technology can enable learning, but it can also drive a wedge between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots.'
- Everyone learns differently, in different ways and at different rates. Yet all are expected to achieve equally.
- The curriculum continues to expand; little is ever removed. Yet the amount of time in which to teach it has not changed. The length of the school day and school year is virtually unchanged from fifty years ago.
The school district is addressing these demands through several initiatives:
- Return to community-based schools to address the needs unique to the community that each school serves.
- Adopt nationally tested and approved curriculum models suited to the needs of each school.
- Implement an on-line assessment system that will return test results quickly, allowing for mid-course adjustments.
- Employ technology in all schools for fast data transfer and connectivity for research and information sharing.
By doing these things, Jackson Public Schools hopes to tailor instruction to the needs of the community, monitor performance closely enough to make changes in a timely fashion, and deliver instruction more efficiently and effectively. Combined, these initiatives will improve the quality of education in the Jackson schools. Ultimately, they will improve the quality of life in Jackson, Mississippi.
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