Skip to main content
Voice Recognition
Select Language 
                      

Academics and Workforce Training


Takeaways on Academics and Workforce Training:
There were lots of comments on curriculum and providing more supports for the full range of students, including multilingual learners and gifted and talented children. Additional discussions focused on teachers needing more time for collaboration, communication and training, and on giving programs and curriculums more time to grow.

Teacher working with students at a table

The Conversations

What we asked about Academics and Workforce Training
  • What additional resources do students need to achieve academic success?
  • How do you feel about students using devices like Chromebooks as part of their classroom activities?
  • What school programs do you believe are most effective in preparing students for college and careers? 
  • What additional training and professional development do the teachers here need to help address achievement gaps among student groups like multilingual learners, special education students and others?
  • You’ve talked about a lot of other subjects related to education at our tables tonight, how can some of the issues you’ve discussed be addressed through academics and workforce training?

Stakeholders were provided with the following information
Current Academic Goals in the 2020-25 Strategic Plan
  • Kent County Public Schools will support Early Learning to provide a strong foundation for future academic excellence and success.
  • Our students will have equitable access to rigorous culturally relevant curriculum and instruction aligned to Maryland College and Career Readiness standards. 

Did you know ...
  • KCPS was an early adopter of all-day universal pre-K, years before it was required under the Blueprint for Maryland's Future?

Training
  • Many days off for students are still work days for teachers and staff. We provide Professional Development throughout the year so teachers can grow the skills they need to be successful in the classroom. 

Science of Reading
  • The Science of Reading aligns instruction to what we know about how the brain learns to read. We are using the Orton-Gillingham method (OG Time) to focus early reading instruction, in part, on the phonics that make up the structure of words. 

Something to think about ...
  • We are committed to data collection and using state and our own local assessment scores to maximize the educational impact for each student.

Stakeholder Sentiments

Word cloud in the shape of a bell. Comments listed below.

Leading Discussion Topics
  • Homework: need more, including summer reading, book reports and routine writing; concern about too much homework for math; parents need help with math including a Math Night
  • Bilingual Resources: support for multilingual learners (ML), full-time ML staff members, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) programs for students and adults, Spanish for teachers, supports that fit with our curriculum
  • Communication among educators: vertical articulation and alignment across grades; grade-to-grade communication, transition and student tracking; systems to catch struggling students
  • Teaching legacy subjects: cursive
  • Media and information literacy: fact from fiction on the internet and social media
  • Meeting needs of accelerated students: Gifted and Talented programming; teaching more higher math; earlier opportunities for MakerSpace and Stem programs
  • Maintain and support Orton-Gillingham training for teachers
  • Hands-on learning
  • Class sizes
  • Succession planning

Questions to Answer
  • How reliant are we on Chromebooks? Are we using them effectively? Are we mindful of the amount of time students are using on them?
  • What does AI mean for schools?

New/Interesting Ideas
  • Introducing foreign languages in elementary school
  • Career and Technical Education (CTE) and College Prep transition programs beginning in the middle school
  • Build more student, family and community engagement through clubs, science fairs, family projects, spelling and geography bees, elementary school performing arts, etc.
  • Financial education: literacy, budgeting and taxes, economics, etc.
  • Summer professional development instead of during the school year
  • Bring school into the community — "education food trucks"
  • Drug awareness education for parents
  • Develop more partnerships with local businesses

From Our Staff

Professional Development Day Question
What additional training and professional development (PD) do the teachers here need to help address achievement gaps among student groups like multi-lingual learners, special education students and others?

Answers Included
  • American Sign Language for staff, students and parents
  • Spanish for staff
  • Adverse childhood experiences training, restorative practices, trauma-informed practices, inclusive training for growing neurodivergent population
  • Culturally responsive assessment tools to identify gaps
  • Prekindergarten and kindergarten alignment
  • Staffing: English language arts and math specialists at each building to provide job-embedded professional development; ML/ESOL staff in each building; specific staff for interventions; Special Education
  • Give programs more time to grow (Stop one and done PD programs)
  • Improve PD programs: cut down on lecture-style programs; align trainings across the district; more collaboration
  • More planning and collaboration time




left arrow
right arrow