District Administration - February 2012 - (Page 50)

The Game Changer high school senior on a personal graduation plan, starting Saturday and afterschool tutorials for struggling elementary and middle school students and moving toward a system in which all students in grade 8 take algebra. “I always say the best economic development strategy and the best anti-poverty strategy is a forward-thinking education reform strategy, and that’s what we’re trying to do,” Jones says. Among the fastest-growing school districts in the nation, Clark County has seen its student enrollment steady, but the population has become more at risk. About 54 percent of the district’s students qualify for free- or reduced-price meals, and more parents are unemployed or are working multiple jobs to pay the bills. “We have families with a higher level of need than we used to have,” says Carolyn Edwards, president of the Clark County school board. “People are struggling to make ends meet and to pay their mortgages. That has an impact.” Edwards says that Jones stood out during the national search for a superintendent because he saw the need to move quickly to improve the schools. “He understood that we had a sense of urgency about making some changes and really raising the bar for student achievement,” she says. Hard Work Pays Off Jones grew up in western Kansas, the son of hard-working farmers who didn’t go to college but demanded that their nine children attend. Jones earned a bachelor’s degree of education from Fort Hays State University in Kansas in 1985 and his mas- “That’s really what drives me to say kids deserve better, and as adults we’ve got to do better,” Jones said. He began his career as a teacher at Morris Hill Elementary School in Junction City Kansas in 1985 and later taught at the middle and high school level. He worked his way through the ranks as an assistant principal and principal and became an assistant superintendent of Wichita Public Schools in 1997. After a year, he left to work on school “I always say the best economic development strategy is a forward-thinking education reform strategy.” —Dwight D. Jones, superintendent, Clark County (Nev.) School District ter’s in administration and supervision from Kansas State University in 1989. The Jones’ were one of the few AfricanAmerican families in the area, and Jones recalls facing “quite a bit of racism.” His third-grade year sticks out. Other children repeatedly barked racial slurs, and no adults at the school intervened. The experience shaped the rest of his life. turnarounds as an operational vice president for Edison Schools Inc., where he supervised 11 campuses in Baltimore, Wichita, Kansas and Kansas City, Mo. In 2001, Jones dove back into district administration as an assistant superintendent of the Fountain-Fort Carson School District, near the Fort Carson Army base. Jones was promoted to chief of the unique district in 2003. Of the 6,000 or so students, 58 percent were from military families, many at war. Despite the toll on the children, under Jones’ leadership, 80 percent of the schools moved from a state rating of “average” or “high” or “excellent,” he said. The achievement gap also narrowed. For example, in 2003, on the 10th grade reading exam, part of the Colorado State Assessment Program, the difference between l0w-income and non-low-income students in scoring proficient or advanced was between 10 and 21 percentage points. In 2007, the gap fell to between 2 and 4 percentage points. The racial gap, however, remained, with white sophomores scoring about 10 percentage points higher than black and Hispanic children in 2007. Jones points to the progress made among the younger students as evidence that the district’s focus on literacy paid off. Among third-graders in 2007, at least Superintendent Jones enjoys talking with high school seniors about their plans for college. 50 February 2012 District Administration

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - February 2012

District Administration - February 2012
Contents
From the Editor
News Update
District Profile
Administrator Profile
Conversations
Product Focus
What Can U.S. Schools Learn From Foreign Counterparts?
A New Prescription for Fighting Drug Abuse
The Game Changer
The Legal Implications of Surveillance Cameras
CIO News
Mobile Devices Drive Creative Instruction
Products
Crisis Response
Professional Opinion
Problem/Solution
New Directions

District Administration - February 2012