Courtesy of Vito Chiala

Overfelt High Schoolhouse Principal Vito Chiala (center) discuss a scientific discipline project with students

EdSource is conducting a series of interviews featuring educators' experiences with the Common Core Land Standards. For more data about the Common Cadre, bank check out our guide.

Vito Chiala has been the master of Overfelt High Schoolhouse in San Jose for eight years. Prior to that he was assistant master of the schoolhouse for three years, and before that he taught there for 3 years.

Chiala's first teaching assignment was at Foothill High School in San Jose. Chiala, however, said he had not intended to be an educator. After obtaining a bachelor'south degree in English at San Francisco State University, he managed restaurants at San Francisco's Westin St. Francis Hotel. But Chiala felt something was missing. "I didn't experience like I was making an touch on on society," he said. A friend told him almost an opening at Foothill High School in East San Jose, a continuation schoolhouse, where he would work with students who had been failing academically. His task was to help gear up them for taking the high school equivalency, or GED, test.

"From the get-go day in the classroom, I knew it was what I wanted to practice," Chiala said. He after went back to school and earned a master'due south caste in pedagogy from San Jose State Academy. The students at Foothill, he said, came from rough backgrounds.

"They were students who had bounced around from schoolhouse to school," he said. "They had discipline issues, gang associations, drug issues, mental health and wellness issues." But Chiala said that he saw from the beginning that these students were engaged. "I call up really what information technology was is they could see I was willing to listen to what they had to say, and I was able to convey a full general interest in getting them to develop."

Mayhap the near profound experience in his years of teaching at Foothill was coaching the robotics team. The team competed against schools with students from affluent backgrounds that had back up from the Massachusetts Found of Technology. His squad, however, won the U.South. Kickoff national championship in 2000.

In his years at Overfelt, the school has changed from being a school where kids could become to college, "but information technology definitely wasn't the civilization." At present, he says, with the shared vision of the staff that works at that place, the kids who attend Overfelt are expected to get to college.

What has been the greatest challenge for you in shifting your school to the Mutual Cadre?

Nosotros were all anticipating the challenges that come with any meaning transition. From my perspective, the biggest challenges take come in finding ways to back up dedicated teachers in making the instructional shifts required to successfully implement the Mutual Core. This demands high quality professional development that prepares teachers to shift didactics in ways that are more pupil centered, that develop college readiness skills similar creative thinking, disquisitional thinking, and collaboration, and that continues to focus on rigorous grade content. To back up the implementation of these instructional shifts nosotros have to create opportunities for frequent teacher collaboration facilitated by less traditional leadership structures. Teachers have to receive regular constructive feedback and ongoing coaching. In that location does non seem to be a existent clear pattern to follow to make all of this happen. In many cases we are all learning as we become.

What practise principals need to do differently for their schools to successfully implement the new Mutual Core standards?

Like teachers, I believe schoolhouse leaders also need to suit their practices to support the implementation of the Mutual Core. For example, if nosotros are asking teachers to exist more than pupil centered, nosotros have to structure our professional development to be more teacher centered, allowing teachers to ain their professional person growth in the aforementioned means that the Common Cadre demands that students own their learning. This requires a shift from the more traditional, hierarchical leadership styles to a more open style with flatter structures. I think educational leaders also have to model "take a chance taking" and promote experimentation with students and staff. Nosotros accept to get into classrooms oftentimes to monitor progress and identify strengths and gaps. Finally, I detect that we have to exist educational leaders as learners and not experts. Nosotros are all adapting to the Mutual Core together: students, staff, and schoolhouse leaders.

What practise you like about the Common Core?

I really similar that the Common Cadre provides a shared definition for college and career ready. The standards maintain the required rigor but also demand the student-centered instructional shifts that develop 21st century skills. I believe the focus on college readiness skills and the shift to student-centered instruction will benefit all students but particularly students who take not traditionally establish success in our educational arrangement. The Common Core standards provide a focus to truly set up all of our students for college and careers.

Are there things you dislike near the Common Core?

About of my concerns with the Common Core tend to be with the implementations. With any new initiative, we would expect challenges. I do retrieve the roll out could take been smoother and better supported with a clearer blueprint. I besides realize that many of the resources to back up the implementation have gone into the engineering science and infrastructure required to implement the assessments. Information technology would have been nice to have more resources defended to professional person development. All in all, these are all challenges that were expected and will be overcome.

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