The Ida B. Wells Community Academy
1180 Slosson Street
Akron, Ohio 44320-2370


Ida B. Wells-Barnett
(1862-1931)

COUNTY: Summit           IRN: 133553

    Part II: Annual Report for 2002-2003

September 30, 2003

Prepared by

Ms. Angela M. Anderson, MBA
Chief Administrative Officer and Treasurer
and
Dr. Edward W. Crosby, PhD
Founder and Program Management Consultant

Areas of Improvement (cont'd)
The Board's chairperson went on to list five areas the Board of Governors wanted the faculty and staff to respond positively to, the most important of which was the need to "have all faculty and support staff study and appreciate the significance of the ... document [titled] 'Building Young Scholars for Their Future,' which is based on the Academy's chartering contract with the State Department of Education and which contains the Academy's operational imperatives such as mission, educational philosophy, curricular focus, accountability, governance, etc." The Board Chair's letter stressed the faculty's need to continue to have students meet rigorous quality standards based on ODE's competency based curriculum. The "Building Young Scholars" document listed not only the ODE standards for each grade level and the fourth and sixth grade proficiency outcomes but also the Academy's requirement that there be infused into the curriculum African and African American history and culture. It was obvious to the Board of Governors and the Academy's administrative team that most, if not all of our teachers were ill-prepared to teach African and African American culture and history (see Attachment VIII: "An Infusion Model for African and American Cultural Content"). Teacher preparation programs throughout the nation have not incorporated this subject area into their teacher preparation matrices. The Board also stressed the need for all of its employees to prepare themselves professionally to teach a student population that they were also not taught anything about or had limited experience teaching and relating to their learning styles.

In 2001 the Academy drafted a proposal to SchoolNet which was funded and allowed for the placing of personal computers in all of its classrooms; SchoolNet also provided professional development funds for all classroom teachers and interested staff to be trained at Channel 25 - WVIZ (Cleveland) not only in various aspects of computer usage but also on selected software, e.g., WordPerfect, PowerPoint, Excel, Word, FrontPage, etc. Each year as faculty and/or staff members leave our employ, their replacements also participate in a similar training process at WVIZ. We have also received through e-Rate computers, a master server and technical assistance in networking all personal computers in the classrooms and administrative offices so that every instructor, administrator and student, where allowable, can access applications stored on the master server and the Internet. It is recognized, however, that  the provision of computer hardware and software does not in and of itself make for a well organized technology-based instructional program. Indeed, much of this program is dependent on how well trained each faculty member is, how intent faculty are in developing their own computer-based lessons much less use those commercially available. The stabilization of our teaching and administrative cadres makes this a reliable portent.

The Academy's administration, especially its Program Management Consultant, Dr. Crosby, in 2000 posted on the Academy's Web site a comprehensive bibliography of books and articles related to African American and World studies. This bibliography also contains a lengthy listing of relevant links to online curricular resources to support the Academy's emphasis on infusing African and African American history and culture into the curriculum. From 1999 onwards there has been, as mentioned earlier on, some difficulty experienced getting faculty to infuse African American history and culture into the curriculum. Of course, some faculty were able to retool, others were not even though the former Principal prodded and cajoled his faculty to do this until he was simply burned out. It was not until his successor relieved him that appreciable gains were made in diversifying the curriculum. Originally, the founders saw the curriculum also emphasizing World Culture Studies. The Academy has now decided to de-emphasize this curricular element.

    5.    The Academy’s Administrative Structure

Dr. Crosby, as indicated at the top of this report, could no longer function as the Board's Chair and the Academy’s Superintendent. The  Academy also experienced problems replacing active Governors with the professional qualities of those we lost over the years; nevertheless, the management of the Academy did not suffer overly much. Over the years, the Academy’s current Board of Governors have had to accept multiple committee assignments or we have had to farm out to individuals who didn't believe they were able to be Board members and devote the time required, but did agree to offer service, e.g., Mr. Edward Gilbert, Esq., agreed to offer legal services and has represented the Academy on some vexing and critical legal issues.

        Board of Governors and Administrative Staff Roster
        (The Governors' resumes are posted on the Academy's Web site.)

Dr. Edward W. Crosby, PhD, Founder, Chair of the Personnel and Benefits Committee, member of the Finance and Planning Committee, Member of the Curriculum Committee, and Program Management Consultant. He is the Founder, Chair and Professor Emeritus, Department of Pan-African Studies and Department of Modern and Classical Languages – German, Kent State University. (Board member since May 4, 1999)

Dr. Crosby is a Co-Founder of the Academy and has served without remuneration as its Superintendent from its inception until 2002 when he resigned the position for health reasons. Dr. Crosby, as a member of the Board of Governors, chairs the Personnel and Benefits Committee which is in charge of all matters pertaining to personnel and recommends to the Board the hiring and termination of staff once he receives requests for such action from the Chief Administrative Officer in collaboration with the Principal. When Dr. Crosby resigned as the Academy's Superintendent and Chair of the Board of Governors in 2002, it was decided by the Board that he should maintain an advisory relationship with the Interim Chief Administrative Officer who was appointed by the Board to assume Dr. Crosby's superintendent responsibilities. To effect this advisory role he holds regular weekly program continuity meetings with the CAO and the Principal to discuss program initiatives, curriculum, faculty and student recruitment issues, space and/or facility needs, student discipline, program obstructions, etc. Each officer comes with his/her list of discussion items. Dr. Crosby has amassed since 1958 45 continuous years of administrative and teaching experience albeit on the university and college level. (See Attachment I: Board Resolution dated May 20, 2002.)
   
Dr. Marlene R. Dorsey, MEd, PhD, Chair of the Board, Chair of the Curriculum and Accountability Committee, Member of the Finance and Planning Committee, Member of the Personnel and Benefits Committee, and Dean, College of Continuing Studies, Kent State University (Board member since May 4, 1999)

Dr. Dorsey is in charge of the general supervision, direction and control of the operation of all aspects of the Academy. Dr. Dorsey has from the Academy's inception chaired the Board's Curriculum and Accountability Committee where she and her committee are charged with overseeing the curriculum in all of its aspects. She also chairs the Finance and Planning Committee and is a member of the Personnel and Benefits Committee. These responsibilities call for her regular communication with the Board's Treasurer, the Chair of the PBC, and the Principal. Dr. Dorsey has had 25 or more years of teaching and administrative experience on both the public school and university levels.

Mrs. Geraldine Hayes Chavez, MEd, Vice Chair, Assistant Dean, Undergraduate Studies and Director, Upward Bound, Kent State University (Board member since December 19, 2000)

Mrs. Hayes Chavez helps in conjunction with the Chair to oversee the overall operation of the Academy. She presides at all meetings of the Board of Governors when the Chair is not present. Mrs. Chavez also serves as an administrative and planning advisor to the Board of Governors. Before joining the Board she was instrumental in the Academy's acquisition of programming space in a Salvation Army Post. As a former public school educator she is relied on to study the Academy's academic program structure and curricular strategies and make critical suggestions for improvement. (Board member since December 18, 2000)

Mrs. Lisa Ann Wheeler Cooper, Community Relations and Publications Committee, Community Relations Coordinator, American Heart Association, Akron and Canton (Board member since February 20, 2000)

Mrs. Cooper helps with the Academy's press releases, brochures, and organizes other community relations projects such as award ceremonies, essay contests, open houses and cookouts.

Mr. Rick L. Owens, Community Relations and Publications Committee, Discipline and Grievance Committee, President, Board of Deacons, Mt. Olive Baptist Church, Akron (Board member since April 2003)

Mr. Owens is a recently installed member of the Board of Governors. His primary function on the Board to date is the establishment and maintenance of viable community relations projects in collaboration with Mrs. Cooper. Mr. Owens will also serve on the Discipline and Grievance Committee.

Rev. Dr. J. Wayman Butts, Chair of the Discipline and Grievance Committee, Pastor, Antioch Baptist Church, Akron (Board member since December 18, 2000)

Rev. Butts is in charge of adjudicating grievances that brought by faculty and staff, students, parents or members of the Academy's faculty and staff against the Academy or other stakeholders.

Dr. Janice D. Taylor Heard, PhD, Director, Outreach and Retention, The University of Akron (Board member since May 2003)

Dr. Heard joined the Board of Governors in May 2003. She has not yet selected a committee assignment. In all likelihood she will function on the Academy's Curriculum and Accountability Committee and be assigned the the responsibility for data collection in the areas of student academic progress, parental involvement, student and community relations..

Ms. Angela M. Anderson, MBA, Treasurer to the Board, Member of the Financial Affairs and Planning Committee, and Chief Administrative Officer and Fiscal Officer.

Ms. Anderson is responsible for reporting on a monthly basis the financial status of the Academy to Board members. As a member of the Board's finance and Planning Committee, she is also responsible for reporting to the Board that cover progress made on planning objectives set at the monthly Financial Afairs and Planning Committee meetings. As the Board's Treasurer and the Academy's Chief Administrative and Fiscal Officer, Ms. Anderson also oversees the planning initiatives and the educational and financial operations of the Academy. Prior to Dr. Crosby's resignation as Superintendent, Ms. Anderson functioned as the Academy's State Licensed Business Manager. She is currently completing the last requirement for State licensure as a School Treasurer/Fiscal Officer.

Mrs. Michele Rumrill, MEd, Principal

Mrs Rumrill plans, organizes and administrates the instructional programs delivered at the Academy. She is also in charge of interviewing potential teachers, monitoring and evaluating the faculty as well as the planning and implementation of the educational program delivered. As principal she is also responsible for the establishment and maintenance of the Academy's discipline process. Mrs. Rumrill is no longer affiliated with the Academy; she resigned on August 15, 2003.

Kelly Pack Crosby, BA in Human Resources, Assistant to the Business Manager

Mrs. Crosby has a BA in Business Administration (Human Resources) and is responsible for the majority of the Academy's human resources tasks: payroll, personnel records, health, life and disability insurance, and property and indemnity insurance policies. She also manages the input of budget activity detail into NeoNet's computers and the State's financial computer system, and maintains the equipment inventory. She is also responsible for maintaining the financial data reported periodically as a standard part of EMIS.

Mrs. Synia Rodgers, Secretary to the Board, EMIS Data and Student Records Coordinator

Mrs. Rodgers takes the minutes of all meetings of the Board of Governors and maintains the Official Record Book of Board documents, including resolutions, committee reports and other related attachments. She also prepares the daily business correspondence, maintains the student records and other files, drafts in collaboration with the Principal the Academy's academic year calendar and most importantly maintains the EMIS system.

        Faculty & Teaching Assistants

Over the years the Academy has employed a number of teachers. Eighty-six percent of the full complement of teaching faculty has been State certified; presently, faculty are 100 percent certified. One of our problems from the beginning was not recruiting certified teachers, it was rather finding teachers who were committed to instituting educational reform, holistic curriculum development, innovative student discipline strategies, willingness to and preparation in the infusion of African and African American history and culture into the curriculum. These problems were exacerbated by some faculty not wanting to do what is necessary to build an educational institution from the ground up. Faculty hired since 2000 in conjunction with those holdovers from earlier years, although not well trained in the infusion of African American history and culture, were willing to put their minds to the task, however difficult the adjustments may be. The faculty listed below under "Current Faculty and Assistant Teachers 2001-2003" represent for the years indicated a cadre of teachers committed to the creation of a community of learners and teachers. This is not to say that all of their and the Academy's institutional and curricular ethno-social academic difficulties and dilemmas have been overcome. To the contrary, it says we have come to a point in our development where we can devote more concerted efforts to resolving these and other persistent issues. Under "Former Faculty and Staff 1999-2003," we have listed those faculty and staff members who are no longer employed.
Current Faculty and Assistant Teachers 2001-2003

Doni M. Brooks, Assistant Teacher, Community
    Relations
Mary Petric, Certified Teacher, Title I - Reading &
    Math Instructor
Stephanie Wood, Certified Teacher, Title I - Reading
    & Math Instructor
Nikita M. Tidwell, Certified Kindergarten Teacher
Melanie R. Fuller, Certified First Grade Teacher
Christine M. Madrigal, Certified Second Grade
    Teacher
Andrea K. Hirst, Certified Third Grade Teacher
Kathy Starkey, Certified Fourth Grade Teacher
Angela R. Berry, Certified Fifth Grade Teacher
Cynthia D. Colbert, Certified Sixth Grade Teacher
Berrenda Love-Lewis, Certified Assistant Teacher
Margaret R. Romesberg, Certified Special Education
    Specialist
Former Faculty and Staff 1999-2003*   

Perkins P. Pringle, Principal (resigned and became a
    Certified Fifth Grade Teacher)
Linda Owens, Assistant Teacher
Damon Reed, Non-Certified Kindergartern 		John Saxe, Certified Kindergarten
Gwen Poole, Non-Certified Kindergarten
Beverly Hoopes, Certified First and Second Grade
Molly McCrea, Certified First Grade
Ida Symonette, First Grade (dismissed for presenting
    an unverified credential)
Judith Denson, Certified First Grade
Amy Martin, Certified First Grade
Jodi Grawunder, Certified First Grade
Joshua  Walters, Certified First Grade
Taliba Afi, Certified Second Grade
Janeanne Huber, Certified Second Grade
Shirley,B. Brown, Certified Retired Special Education
    Specialist
Kenya McKinnie, Non-Certified Second Grade
Erlene Haslam, Assistant Teacher
Doris Doughty, Certified Third Grade
Tricia Law, Title I - Certified Reading and Math Tutor
Patricia Crawford, Non-Certified Third Grade
William Chambers, Non-Certified Third Grade
Vincent Taylor, Assistant to Principal, Disciplinarian
Felicia Casper, Certified Special Education Specialist
Wilma Woods, Certified Special Education Specialist
SheRel Pringle, Certified Special Education Specialist
    (temporary)

*More detailed information on the Academy's former faculty, including substitutes and volunteers, is found in the Annual Reports
or 1999-2000, 2000-2001, and 2001-2002.  The 2002-2003 group of faculty were for the most part qualified on the one hand by
virtue of their certification and dedication to the education of at risk youngsters; however, on the other, some of them were not
adequate to the task they were hired to accomplish and were relieved of that responsibility.

    6.      Faculty Qualifications and Preparation

The teachers employed at the Academy are qualified to fulfill the school's mission for many reasons. First, all teachers, as pointed out earlier on, hold credentials from accredited universities. Each teacher holds a valid teaching certificate in his/her degree area. Several of the teachers hold a Bachelor's degree plus additional hours in their field, and the Principal has 10 plus years of teaching experience and a master's degree in educational technology (focus: using technology to enhance teaching). One of our Title I - Reading and Math instructors has 20 years of experience. Our Chief Administrative Officer holds an MBA, is a State licensed Business Manager, expects to complete this fall at Kent State University the last requirement for becoming a State licensed School Treasurer (or Fiscal Officer). We have recently hired a fifth grade teacher who is State certified and also holds an MBA. The fourth grade teacher has earned 36 graduate credits towards an MEd degree. Another faculty member who teaches the sixth grade has an MEd and is currently enrolled in a PhD in educational administration.

Second, in addition to having the state requirements in place that allow the faculty to teach, the faculty have also been trained in how to deliver the Academy's curriculum to our current student population. They have participated in several workshops this year pertaining to African American history and cultural awareness topics. This year we retained the services of Mr. Kofi Khemet of Sacramento, California, to conduct three workshops on the number and types of resource materials available in libraries and on the Internet, the strategies that can be used to conduct research on the Web, infusing African and African American history and culture into the Academy's curriculum. Mr. Khemet holds an MEd in Student Personnel Services from Kent State University. One of his daughters attends the  John Morse Waldorf School (http://www.scusd.edu/ourschools/showSchoolDetail.asp?SchoolID=129) – a public charter school -- in Sacramento; the other two are being home-schooled primarily by himself. Another consultant retained was Mrs. Gail Dudley of Highly Recommended (Oberlin, Ohio). She conducted cultural awareness interviews with faculty, staff and Board members to ascertain their perspectives on cultural and curriculum diversity workshops. Mrs. Dudley will return and hold classroom management workshops with faculty. With these activities we have, as a team of educators, continued to work to expand our knowledge base regarding the infusion of African American culture into the daily curriculum and by doing so be better prepared to meet our students where they are culturally and socially. Additional monies were set aside this year for expanding our teacher resource materials at the Academy in the several curricular areas and especially in African American history and culture.

The teaching staff at the Academy has demonstrated a strong commitment to professional development in a wide variety of areas. This can best be exemplified by reviewing the diverse workshops teachers have attended this past year alone; and by calculating the total number of hours staff spent in seminars and/or workshops – over 186 hours! The teachers believe, as we preach to our students, that one is never too old to learn something new. The Board of Governors, as has already been demonstrated, has from the Academy's inception been composed of individuals who are not only experienced educators, but the Board, as demonstrated above, is also composed of persons committed to the delivery of a quality education to its enrollees.

The Academy communicates information to its students, parents, staff, Governors and the community as a whole through a variety of methods.
  • The Academy's school calendar is passed out to all the parents, and Board members, and distributed throughout the community. Board meeting notices are published in the Academy's Calendar and in Akron's leading newspaper -- the Beacon Journal;
  • One of the most common forms of communication used by the teachers is their classroom's newsletter which informs their students' parents at least once a month about what is going on at the Academy, and about any upcoming events;
  • The primary form of communication utilized by the Academy's administration to inform the families is a personally addressed letter as well as a second copy of the letter to carry home;
  • Any information that needs to be communicated to the families regarding any new policies, changes in the calendar, or special events goes out to the families via the U.S. mail;
  • Other information that needs to be communicated community wide is done through newspaper ads, flyers, billboards, and bulletins and the Internet;
  • Another form of communication used to inform our parents, the community and ODE and LOEO is our Annual Report. The Annual Reports provide a wealth of information that can be utilized as a tracking tool for the Academy's progress from year to year, for they recap the entire year's progress, failures and successes, struggles, and accomplishments over the years. These reports are summarized and sent to the parents of registered students and other stakeholders usually in October or November of the following academic year; and
  • The general community is comprehensively informed about the Academy through its Web site that was first posted on June 23, 2000 -- http://.hierographics.orq/Academylndex.shtml. As of this writing, our site has received more than 3,150 visitors. The number of visitors is recorded either by those who enter the site through its home page (2,636) or those who sign the Academy's Guestbook which has received 514 visitors. It should be noted that our Web site can be found on the Google search engine and has, therefore, reached an even broader array of visitors, some of whom were interested in establishing or working at charter schools in Memphis, Minneapolis, Chicago, Miami, Cleveland, or Little Rock. Many others have been students writing research papers on alternative education programs and on working to reform the schooling process in the United States.

The above referenced Web site lays out a complete picture -- both literally and figuratively of the Academy's Board of Governors and their resumes, its faculty, its administrators, its curriculum, its mission, its founding namesake -- Ida B. Wells Barnett, all three of its Annual Reports, and many other items that define the Ida B. Wells Community Academy. The Academy has communicated not only with its primary stakeholders in the Greater Akron community but also with the general public in Ohio and throughout the nation. Hence, the number of visitors tallied is perhaps higher because some computer literates or those using search engines such as Google may be allowed visitors to by pass the Academy's home page and access individual Web pages by typing in the URL for that specific page.

When communicating information to the Board, faculty and staff, from the administration, it is usually done
through . . .

    •    e-Mails, letters or memoranda. E-mails are also used to communicate to the Board things that come up between meetings that need to be addressed or to announce special Board meetings. This information is reinforced with faculty and staff through discussions during their weekly meetings.
    •    Each month standing committee reports and reports from the Chair, the Principal, the CAO, and the Treasurer are the most direct way of communicating information to the Board of Governors.
    •    These reports are augmented by reports or discussion on any policy changes that must be made, any current events, new policy recommendations, the financial status of the Academy, and any other pertinent situation that needs to be communicated to the Board, to the community, to our parents, and to other Academy stakeholders.
   
    6.    The Academy and Accountability

The Academy's faculty and staff and individual members of the Board of Governors, are aware of and fully understand what their obligations are to their students, their students' parents, and to the Academy's stakeholders in general. To assure this awareness and understanding, we have sent to everyone a Board Resolution which establishes the Academy's "Standards for Academic Governance and Leadership" as stipulated in ORC 3301-35-04 -- Student and Other Stakeholder Focus (see Attachment IX). The opening sentence in this document reads as follows:

Leaders, i.e., Governors, Superintendent, Principal, Faculty and Staff, set and communicate direction throughout the Academy . . . consistent with the Academy's Bylaws, the Academy's educational philosophy and mission, the needs and expectations of all stakeholders, and local, state, and federal mandates to improve classroom instruction and higher academic achievement for all students.

As indicated in the Academy's accountability plan, we center our attention on student assessment and related academic services. These include regular teacher driven testing regimes, in-house student achievement conferences, student portfolios, presentations, demonstrations, and the related provision of extra-classroom educational services to our students. Three outside service agencies used are Psychological Services Institute (PSI) (Speech, Hearing, Language and Psychological Therapy), MEO/SERRC (which provides the Academy with technical support, workshops, and presentations) and Neonet which provides electronic access to Ohio’s financial and EMIS data resources and also other computer-based services.  We are currently served by the American Red Cross and the Portage and Summit County Educational Service Centers. We have recently signed a contract with PCESC to provide the Academy with general special education and related special needs services.

Each Fall, continuing students are required to re-register. New students have file folders made for their medical records, emergency contact phone numbers, IEP records, attendance records, free or reduced price meal applications, etc. During the first week of classes, we administer the Terra Nova -- a diagnostic achievement tool to assess the current level of performance for students in grades K-6. The Terra Nova also provides a baseline indication of where each student is starting academically so that with this data and other information provided by his/her medical or school records a determination of the best educational course of action can be taken with regards to planning the students' learning path. For instance, it is determined if the students should be referred to the Title I reading and math instructors or to the Special Education Specialist. The Terra Nova is administered again in the Spring or earlier to determine if there has been any measurable improvement over the course of time or if the learning path needs to be revised upward or downward. Our former Special Education teacher used the WIAT, an instrument designed to highlight specific areas of disability. The Title I instructors have been using the CAT-5, which has been particularly helpful for quick analysis of approximate grade level functioning. All teachers at the Academy keep portfolios for each child.

The portfolios include a wide variety of items intended to provide a detailed account of the child's academic progress. There may be written assignments placed within tests, stories the child has written, reports, art work, audio and/or video tapes, report cards, midterm progress reports, and other documentation. Teachers also have students make graded presentations during Kwanzaa, Black History Month, or during the Malcolm X Memorial or on Ida B. Wells' Birthday or participate in essay contests held during Black History Month and the June 'Teenth Celebration. Each month individual students are highlighted as "Student of the Month" in the corridor. Teachers include a short summary of the child's current goals and objectives and areas needing improvement.

The support of the agencies mentioned earlier (MEO/SERCC, PCESC, PSI ) afford us the unique opportunity to provide our students with assistance, curriculum modifications, and/or additions easily and quickly. Our approach is to meet the students where they are (culturally, socially, and academically) and then move them on to a higher achievement level. The instructional system in place is helping us to achieve the goals we outlined in our contract, namely, having our students show competence in the five learning proficiency areas -- Citizenship (Social Studies), Mathematics, Reading, Writing, and Science. Currently faculty are preparing themselves to administer the new diagnostic testing regime mandated by NCLB and the State Department of Education.

    8.    Maintaining Quality in Teaching and Administrative Cadres

The quality of teaching is evaluated by the Academy's Principal on a regular basis. Teachers are observed three times per year formally, and informally weekly. All new hires -- Principal, teachers and staff -- must serve a 90-day probationary period, after which they are evaluated using a standard Academy devised evaluation form to determine whether they should be retained in their current positions or transferred to another position or terminated. This form is completed by the Principal and is then gone over with the teacher. The teacher is allowed to make comments or provide feedback on said form, sign and return it to the principal. This form is then filed in the teacher's personnel file. Secondly, a more formal observation is then planned, where the Principal can observe a lesson being taught, and provide feedback to the teacher on components of the lesson. Teacher and Principal meet again after the lesson has been observed to go over the findings, and make some suggestions for teaching improvement. The teacher is again provided with a copy of this for his/her records, and the original goes in the teacher's personnel file. At the end of this probation evaluation, the Principal reports the results of the evaluation and sends a retention recommendation to the CAO who informs the chair of the Personnel and Benefits Committee. A letter is then sent to the faculty or staff member notifying him or her of the results of the evaluation (see Attachment X for copies of the Academy's “Teaching Methods and Classroom Management Evaluation Report” and the "End-of-Probation Notice” letters).

Teachers are also required to develop a professional development plan. This plan is created with the Academy's Mission Statement and the personal goals and objectives of the teacher in mind. These goals may include specific areas that the teacher would like to improve, e.g., classroom management or, they may be related to a specific content area, say, African American history. The chairperson of the LPDC then uses the plan to help the teacher find and participate in related workshops or seminars or university course(s). The informal observations of teachers may involve the Principal simply sitting in or walking through the classrooms on a regular, but unannounced basis. Much information can be gleaned in a few minutes by simply walking in and observing, for example, what is the teacher doing? What are the students doing? Are the students writing, listening, working in small groups, or are they unruly? Is technology being used? How is it being used? How does the teacher respond to students? What is the overall climate in the room at the time? Is it quiet? Is it relaxed? Is it tense? In what manner is information being presented to the learners? The Academy's Teaching Methods and Classroom Management Evaluation Report and its statement on "Faculty and Staff Employment and Performance Expectations" (see Attachment XI). Not only is the quality of teaching evaluated on a regular basis, so, too, is the Principal's performance.

The Board of Governors evaluates the Chief Administrative Officer through its Chair of the Personnel and Benefits Committee who reports his recommendations to the Board and receives their advice and consent which is communicated to the CAO. Furthermore, the Board's By Laws stipulate that its Chair and Vice Chair as well as the chairs of its Standing Committees must each stand for reelection when their terms expire. They may decline to be reconsidered and/or new candidates can be proposed to stand for election. The Board of Governor’s Bylaws can be read in Attachment XII. An older version is found in the Academy's Bylaws and Governance Handbook.



End of Part II

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For More Information and Feedback, send e-Mail to

Ms. Angela M. Anderson  or  Dr. Edward W. Crosby

 The Academy's Web site is located at

http://hierographics.org/AcademyIndex.shtml

The Academy's Address is

Ida B. Wells Community Academy
1180 Slosson Street
Akron, Ohio   44320-2730
Phone:  330.867.1085   FAX:  330.867.1074

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