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MLK Academy credits digital tools, PLCs and SST reforms for reading and math gains
Summary
Principal Jose Juan Urquizo and assistant principal Milc Hernandez described classroom-embedded innovations — a digital learning-walk tool (Bullseye), a digital hall-pass pilot (SmartPass) and Parsec feedback — and reported benchmark gains and process metrics from learning walks and SSTs.
Jose Juan Urquizo, principal at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Academy, and Assistant Principal Milc Hernandez presented the school's yearlong instructional work and technology pilots to the Alisal Union School District board Tuesday.
Urquizo said the school has seen progress on the California School Dashboard and applied structured collaborative protocols in professional learning communities (PLCs). "Our English learner progress has jumped from red all the way to green," Urquizo told trustees, and he highlighted teacher collaboration and peer coaching as drivers of that improvement.
Why it matters: the principal tied specific instructional protocols and digital tools to measurable classroom change and gave trustees concrete usage and follow-up figures for the first year of implementation.
Programs and results: Urquizo described three digital tools used at MLK Academy: Bullseye, a digital learning-walk dashboard (58 learning-walk visits recorded this year; 96% of observed staff received a follow-up feedback session; staff identified 16 instructional next steps, five of which were fully implemented); SmartPass, a Chromebook-based digital hall-pass pilot intended to track student movement and reduce restroom vandalism and lost instruction time; and Parsec, a feedback tool that accepts voice and video input from families and students and produces trends and themes for staff.
On student outcomes, Urquizo reported that by April more than half of students made more than 90% of their typical growth in reading and 79% of typical growth in math on i-Ready benchmarks. He also described an SST (student-study-team) process the school runs every other week, aiming for about eight SST meetings in that cycle, and said 53% of participating teachers and 55% of participating parents reported favorability with the revised SST format.
Board reaction and details: Trustees asked how SmartPass works and whether teachers or students must monitor the system; Hernandez explained the student uses a Chromebook portal, requests are granted by the teacher, and timers and destination icons (restroom, counselor, intervention) record movement. Trustees asked whether the tools had teacher buy-in; staff said teachers chose the digital approach and implementation this year was a pilot designed for refinement next year.
Ending: Principal Urquizo invited trustees to school celebrations and noted the staff will continue refining digital implementation and follow-up coaching next school year.
