Week++4

** Week 4 Part 1 ** ** Understanding FIRST ** Lee Vi 1. Fund Balance: 50% more than optimum and not more than 150% 2. Audit Report: Filed on time, No auditor opinions or disclosures on weaknesses Usually conducted in September 3. Student-Teacher Ratio Concern: Due to cuts in funding this is an area to monitor as teachers are cut or positions are eliminated through retirement and resignations.
 * Great Job Team! Tatiana **

Guys I drafted this paper. Please feel free to add/change/delete any feedback. Tatiana

Group 1 - Part 1: Opinion about the top 3 components of FIRST

There are two accountability systems for school districts in the state of Texas. The Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS) is the accountability system for districts' curriculum and instruction programs. The Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (FIRST) hold districts responsible for the business and financial operations.

The Texas Administrative Code (TAC), Title 19, § 109.1001, states that the purpose of the financial accountability rating system is to ensure that school districts and open-enrollment charter schools will be held accountable for the quality of their financial management practices and achieve improved performance in the management of their financial resources. The system is designed to encourage Texas public schools to manage their financial resources better in order to provide the maximum allocation possible for direct instructional purposes. The system will also disclose the quality of local management and decision-making processes that impact the allocation of financial resources in Texas public schools.

According to Dr. Stephens’s Interview, the Superintendent has to be equally concerned about “district ratings” by both the AEIS and the FIRST systems. “It is incumbent on the Superintendent to monitor both rating systems, analyze areas of needed improvement, and implement needed adjustments.”

The FIRST system requires the Texas Education Agency to review audited financial reports from all districts and assign financial management ratings based on how the data conform to 22 established indicators. Every school district in Texas is required to prepare an annual financial management report that includes the district's financial management performance rating from TEA, the district's previous performance on the rating indicators, and information that the Board of Trustees deems useful. In addition, state law requires that school districts hold a public discussion/hearing on the report and publish notice of the hearing at least two times prior to the meeting. The School FIRST accountability rating system assigns one of four financial ratings, with the highest being "Superior Achievement." For the 2009-2010 fiscal year, the financial accountability rating of a school district was based on its overall performance on certain financial measurements, ratios, and other indicators. The same will apply for the 2010-2011 fiscal year.

Our group agreed that the three most important components of FIRST is the Fund Balance, which should be 50% more than optimum and not more than 150%. The second most important component is the audit report. The report should be filed on time and there should not be any opinions or disclosures on weaknesses. It is usally conducted in September. Finally, the last component we felt was the most important was student-teacher ratio. This is crucial since school districts tend to maximize classrooms to minimize their spending on salaries. This is a concern due to cuts in funding. This is an area to monitor as teachers are cut or positions are eliminated through retirement and resignations. Overall, all of the components of FIRST are critical to school districts. Superintendents should have the knowledge of the measurements used to rate the district and should strive to receive Superior ratings just as they strive to be Exemplary.

Week 4 Part 2

**Comparing Economy of Scale in Large and Small Districts** Lee Vi Total Revenue per Pupil: District 1 – 10529 District 2 – 10316 Total Operational Expenditures per Pupil: District 1 – 8611 District 2 – 8908 Average Teacher Salary: District 1 – 39771 District 2 – 50307

Cheree

(Advanced degrees D1: 12.7% & D2: 24.6%) || $39,771  ||  $50,307  ||
 * Week 4: Part 2 || District 1  ||  District 2  ||
 * Total Students || 830  ||  32,326  ||
 * Number of Schools || 3  ||  45  ||
 * Total Revenue Per Pupil || $10,529  ||  $10,316  ||
 * Total Operating Expenditure Per Pupil || $8,611  ||  $8,908  ||
 * Average Teacher Salary
 * Number of students per teacher || 11.9  ||  14.1  ||
 * Total Teacher FTE || 70  ||  2,299  ||

Lee Vi District 2 is considered a large district with over 32000 students. District 1 has an enrollment of a little over 800. Both of these districts do a good job of distributing the wealth to ensure equity for all of its students and both do a good job of generating revenue per pupil. The large district, 2, is most likely in a metropolitan area or an area of great population. Thus, this area will have budding business growth along with many opportunities for work and living. A larger salary, many times, will accompany a large districts employment. This salary is driven by cost of living being more expensive in a high population area and greater competition for good teachers. Also, a large salary will sometimes go hand in hand will larger problems or duties.

Teri Also, if you subtract Total Operational Expenditures Per Pupil from Total Revenue Per Pupil and then multiply this number by the number of students for each district, you find that District 1 has a surplus of $1,591,940 and District 2 has a surplus of $45,515,008.

Cheree Economy of Scale is also a factor as we examine the data above. We notice the lower per unit cost as a result of increasing size. Infrastructure cost per pupil decreases as size of the district increases. (Jenkins, 2011) District 2 has lower revenue and operating expenditures per pupil based on Economy of Scale. Lee, also note the greater the competition the more advanced degrees among teachers. That factor also increases the avaerage salary.

** Week 4 Part 3 ** ** Analysis of Differentiated Staffing on a Campus of Your Choice ** Teri This assignment says the group needs to decide on the campus of their choice. Any suggestions on the campus? I can start on this one once the campus is decided.

Cheree Just pick two from the Houston/Beaumont area.

Teri There are many reasons why differentiated staffing impacts and/or improves the goals of the campus. The obvious answer would be that each individual brings new perspectives, experiences and skills to the classroom. Given the multi-lingual nature of many schools, the presence of bilingual staff may improve student outcomes. Furthermore, a diverse staff creates a positive and dynamic environment that models valuing diversity. Students who may be language learners may feel more comfortable and are more likely to approach a teacher for help and support and may feel more motivated to succeed. In almost every profession that strongly impacts society, the concept of a “generalist” is considered archaic. Frederick Hess (2009) describes in his article “The Human Capital Challenge: Toward a 21st Century Teaching Profession,” “Even in the most innovative and dynamic charter schools, teaching bundles together the roles of content deliverer, curriculum designer, diagnostician, disciplinarian, discussion leader, empathizer, clerk, secretary, and attendant - and asks teachers to fulfill these roles for a variety of students in a variety of content areas.” (p. 13) Because of this, teachers are worked harder than is needed and less time is devoted to honing their actual teaching skills. A system of differentiated staffing will ensure that each teacher can specialize in one aspect of a child’s education and together with their colleagues make sure that each area of holistic learning is provided for so that all students achieve mastery levels in their educational experience. Orangefield ISD is a rural, small 3A district located about 20 miles from Beaumont, Texas. In Orangefield ISD, a Curriculum Director serves as a curriculum and research specialist. His job is to keep abreast of all research into new methods and content and transfer it to the local campuses. He also meets with Team Leaders to discuss his findings and implications for beginning new programs in their content areas. He trains and provides support to new teachers during their probationary period of teaching. Teachers are given the opportunity to serve as Team Leaders on all campuses. At the elementary level (PK-4), there is one team leader per grade level. At the junior high (5-8) and high school (9-12) level, there is one team leader per subject area. Team Leaders meet with teachers on their team and with campus and district administrators. They relay information between the two groups, analyze data related to the students assigned to them and their team members, and schedule events for their team. Classroom teachers comprise most of the faculty. Paraprofessionals support teachers in RtI labs and mainly are assigned to life skills classrooms. This hierarchy could be modified to even further follow the differentiated staffing model. Team Leaders could take on more of a supervisory role on their campuses and possibly spend a large percentage (75%) of their day in the classroom teaching and the other time (25%) in leadership roles and helping mentor probationary teachers in their field of experience. Paraprofessionals could serve as support persons in all areas and provide teachers with more time to hone their skills rather than monitoring recess time and copying worksheets. An area of concern in Orangefield ISD is the lack of a culturally diverse staff. The student population of this district is growing and changing and the staff should reflect those changes. Currently, OISD employs 0 African American teachers, 1 Hispanic teacher, 118.1 White teachers, 0 Native American teachers and 0 Asian/Pacific Island teachers. The student population is made up of 14 African American students, 125 Hispanic students, 1,573 White students, 15 Native American students, and 27 Asian/Pacific Island students. As stated above, diversity and the presence of bilingual staff should improve student outcomes, especially with the students who are language learners. This also will support the district goal that states, "Orangefield ISD will implement strategies to promote positive climate and a nurturing culture for all members of the learning community." Making these changes to the current staffing patterns would increase the budget for staff salaries. Removing the Team Leaders from the classroom for a portion of the day would involve hiring someone to teach the students for the 25% of time that team leaders are out of the classroom. Also, this would involve hiring more paraprofessionals, which would increase the budget. Student achievement should increase based on the increased amount of time teachers would have to actually teach their subject area and research innovative ways to deliver content. Implementing a differentiated staffing program at OISD could be a positive change agent in the district with the positive aspects outweighing the negative concerns.

*I added Tatiana's statement to the beginning of the introduction. *

Tatiana

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; margin: 5pt 0in;">There are many reasons why differentiated staffing impacts and/or improves the goals of the campus. The obvious answer would be that each individual brings new perspectives, experiences and skills to the classroom. Given the multi-lingual nature of many schools, the presence of bilingual staff may improve student outcomes. Furthermore, a diverse staff creates a positive and dynamic environment that models valuing diversity. Students who may be language learners may feel more comfortable and are more likely to approach a teacher for help and support and may feel more motivated to succeed.

** Week 4 Part 4 ** ** Understanding Personnel Salaries in District Budgets **

** Week 4 Part 5 ** ** Interview with the Business Manager on Financial Audits **