Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Professional Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
District weighs two major professional‑learning partnerships and their costs: Center for Model Schools and Novak (UDL) proposals
Summary
Officials and vendor representatives outlined two proposed district partnerships—Center for Model Schools (University of Chicago Five Essentials model) and Novak Education (Universal Design for Learning). Trustees asked about comparability, site‑by‑site implementation, staff burden and per‑school costs (presenters and staff cited roughly $36,000 per school for Center for Model Schools components in some remarks and $20,000–$21,000 per school for Novak UDL year‑one PD).
Two consulting partnerships under consideration drew detailed presentations and trustee questions at the May 13 board meeting.
Adam Drummond, director of the Center for Model Schools, outlined a partnership that would deliver a diagnostic assessment grounded in University of Chicago Five Essentials research, a root‑cause analysis for each school, targeted professional learning and job‑embedded coaching for principals and teacher representatives. He described expected outcomes (three of five essentials rated strong/very strong) and measurement and progress‑monitoring tools. Trustees asked about demographic comparability to Merced and how the model had performed in urban/rural and high‑poverty districts.
Dr. Angela Burke from Novak Education presented a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) partnership focused on instructional design: 12 hours of job‑embedded PD per teacher in year one, coaching, leadership tools, and progress monitoring. Dr. Burke described UDL as a framework (not a checklist) intended to create multiple pathways to learning and said success depends on implementation fidelity and leadership support.
Cost and scope: During Q&A trustees and staff discussed cost estimates: staff noted the Center for Model Schools work was being budgeted at about $36,000 per school site (district estimate presented by staff during Q&A), while Novak’s UDL offering was described as roughly $20,000–$21,000 per school for year‑one (presenter). Trustees pressed district staff on ensuring buy‑in across diverse sites, monitoring fidelity, and limiting added workload for teachers.
Board next steps: Presentations were informational for May 13; trustees asked staff to return with clearer budget sources, implementation timelines, and an oversight plan for fidelity of execution before any contract approvals.
