ESSA Survey Responses Arizona Department of Education Updated: October 6, 2016 In your own words, explain what you think should be done to ensure the success of Entry ID students and/or schools. 13 Stop electing people like Diane Douglas and Ducey who know nothing about education! Schools for be accountable to showing progress on student achievement. They, however, 14 should higher funding level than what is current being provided to demonstrate higher It has been shown that smaller class sizes increase achievement and more money produce 17 smaller class sizes Allow teachers to do their jobs and administrators to do theirs without heavy regulations & 22 our legislators putting more requirements without providing funding to implement. Definitely Technology and CTE can help students to explore passions as well as fulfill their required 27 course for graduation. Good teachers are leaving in droves because of "accountability" linked to test scores that 28 cannot be linked to classroom instruction alone. (I say this as an educational researcher) 30 More arts, field trips and smaller class sizes. More funding so that teacher turnover and burn out is lower. Students shouldn't have to have 33 a full schedule of new teachers every year. 34 Increase teacher pay and resources to ALL schools not just TITLE 1 and Charter Schools 35 Stop gutting public education by giving money to private schools. 39 Stop changing the assessments / Give back better data that is more specific as AzMerit data is Allow teachers more flexibility to do what needs to be done. Too many practice and tests, 40 pre tests, etc. Funding provides for smaller classes, teacher retention, and technology Hold parents and students accountable for all of their actions. Reward students for 41 attendance and effort. Students with discipline problems or low/no effort should be held Quality teachers and administrators need to be in EVERY classroom. Did you know that a 42 child that has 2 consecutive years of subpar education will NEVER get back to grade level? Reduce standards to be covered for all years (see Marzano research), more CTE ed, funding 44 and respect for teachers knowledge and expertise increase School funding can help with keeping better more qualified staff as well as giving schools the 47 options of offering more classes and curriculum options. It has been proven that teachers that are paid like professionals are happier with their job and 50 stay at their positions longer. A content teacher will produce happy, well-balanced students. Schools need the support of funding to create safe learning environments that students are enthusiastic to come to. With the funding, the schools can each decide what is needed to make their school a better place that students want to come to. 53 Further, school choice does not need to be expanded. 57 Extend the school year to a truly year-round model. 9 weeks on, 1 week off ALL year. Decrease "school choice" opportunities and bring these specialized magnet programs that 58 look "shiny and fancy" to the public school districts. This will funnel max $$ to the schools. 59 Add more funding to the schools , pay teachers more Teacher pay that is in line with other professionals would attract the best educators and help 61 to retain them. The education profession is under attack and not thought of as a career. More funds to keep 62 the BEST teachers and attract more into the programs 63 Money money money. It works. Period. 1 ESSA Survey Responses Arizona Department of Education Updated: October 6, 2016 High quality professional educators who are valued and appreciated for their efforts are the key to student success. They should be part of a learning community that would include the 65 parents as partners in the process. Increase school funding to hire more teachers to reduce class size. Where I'm at the average 69 core class size is 32+. Getting that to 25-27 would dramatically increase my efficacy as a Money can bring more opportunities....technology...smaller classes....training. It will also help 70 insure that we retain quality educators. In order to achieve success, you need to have the funding for the proper materials as well as paying the teachers more. Unfortunately, Arizona doesn't fund education as well as other 71 states and that is a disservice to our students as well as the teachers that have to teach the 73 Students need access to computers every day in every classroom. That can only be done with 75 The state of AZ needs to adequately fund our schools. Compensating the teachers on better and more livable wages, which will spark a need to stay 76 in the profession and give more effort in their jobs if they are appreciated more. CTE! CTE prepares students for the workplace by teaching employ-ability and workplace standards. Also, CTE is typically academically integrated with STEM and other academic subject in a "hands-on". project-based format that demonstrates relevance to academic 77 courses and industry standards. CTE keeps students in school!!! 78 More money to keep master teachers. We need more funding in general, however, capital and school facilities funding has been cut 79 the most and needs to be properly allocated to school districts. 82 Make teaching a respected and valued profession, in order to attract and retain better With the extremely poor school funding it is hard to keep the best talent in a school. Our best teachers, innovators and leaders leave for better pay. Often outside of education. This robs our states students of the best most effective teaching and schools and makes them less able 83 to compete with prospects from better funded states or private schools. 84 Increased funding would provide technology, expand school choice, and increase student School choice only weakens our education system by providing increased access to families 90 who can and will use these options. Essentially, it removes the cream from the top and increase school funding to the schools with the most need. the haves keep getting the goods 94 and the have nots keep getting nothing. parental involvement 95 By increasing school funding, we can keep up with the rest of the US. It is embarrassing to work in public education in Arizona, where we consistently demonstrate 97 through the allocation of dollars to schools, that we clearly do not value funding schools. A schools success is based on teachers. As teachers we need positive professional development that we can use immediately in our classrooms. I can tell you our school culture 101 takes a dive around testing and the teachers and students both pay for it in their Ensuring success is allowing the students to have more one on one time with teachers when they need it. The only way to do this is to lower class sizes. More testing, Longer school days 102 or more school days is not the answer. Smaller class size is. Schools cannot be sucessful if teachers are not given the ability to use the "highly qualified " education that the government requires anyways! Have faith in the trainging and education 103 and support with funding to meet the needs of each school. 105 Arizona spends one of the lowest amounts on students. 112 Parents need to be held accountable for their child's education. 2 ESSA Survey Responses Arizona Department of Education Updated: October 6, 2016 Teachers do not get paid enough and therefore leave the profession. So, instead of getting the best and the brightest, they often times go to another profession to make ends meet. 113 Everyone says teachers don't get paid enough. Let's do something about it instead of just Fund us!!! We need funds for teacher salaries and smaller classes. We need funds for technology. The demands of teaching are sometimes more than what's reasonable..... We are expected to teach students how to behave appropriately through programs like PBIS because they don't come to school having been taught that at home; we are expected to teach students how to be students through programs like AVID because they are not taught that at home; we are expected to teach students how to use technology as an information and learning tool rather than just for social media; we are expected (of course) to teach the content and standards of our course -- and those have changed significantly over the past few years. Pay teachers for the responsibility they are handed and you may find more qualified 114 applicants. I am a career educator, but I have advised my children not to go into education in Technology is great but we are missing out on communication. Students have technology at home. Let's put our funds towards experiences the students do not get anywhere else. Use 116 school funding towards bringing in a play troupe, cooking classes, science camp, etc. Students 117 Technology education with current updated curriculum in this ever so changing world. Funding by itself, while important, should be aligned with goal and objective achievement to 118 include accountability options to address deficiencies. 119 Students should have clearly taught accountability in academics, arts, societal mores and 120 I think we have lost way to many great teachers in this state due school funding. 121 School's should be given more funding for extra support staff to help in the classrooms. I think that the state should fully back and fund the public school system. I believe that we should make public schools so strong in every area that parents will always choose the 122 neighborhood school as the very best choice for their child.