Hello Everyone – I would like to provide you an update on my 1-1 conversation with Superintendent Garcia earlier today.
We started the conversation with a summary background of me. My kids, my experience with public education. Dr Garcia reciprocated by talking more about her background, kids, her 27 years of experience in education. And her decision to move to Gilroy due to high house prices in Morgan Hill. She also emphasized her passion for public education.
Dr. Garcia mentioned that she strategically only applied to only two districts after SMUSD. She reviewed MHUSD public data and believed she could make a difference. Her focus was on finding a district “ready for her” and her vision.
Dr. Garcia draws significant inspiration in the work of an Australian researcher John Hattie. Hattie’s most notable contribution is the concept of Visible Learning, which serves as a framework for enhancing education effectiveness.
At its core, Visible Learning lays out various factors that impact students education/learning and ranks their effectiveness from -0.9 (Low) to +1.57 (High). For example, correlation between self-assessment and actual grades and teacher efficacy are ranked higher in effectiveness for student learning, teacher subject matter knowledge or amount of homework given to students are ranked lower in effectiveness for their learning.
It is crucial to note that even Professor John Hattie emphasizes the importance of how Visible Learning principles need to align with context of local educational settings and student needs. What works best may vary based on specific needs of schools, demographics, and specific classroom challenges. Additionally, some argue it’s wrong to focus solely on factors with the highest effect sizes and leave out all the lows such as homework. And some believe that education can not be neatly ranked by effect sizes. And this is a dangerous illusion (Errors in John Hattie’s “Visible Learning” by Rolf Schulmeister and Jörn Loviscach).
Leveraging Visible Learning approach, Dr Garcia implemented an immediate change in the districts’ leadership to execute Visible Learning philosophy from top down. She assembled a District Wide Instructional Leadership Team.
District Wide Instructional Leadership Team consist of members below district wide trickling down to -> Site Instructional Level team (at School Level) which is Principle + 8 Grade Level Leads at each site
- Principles
- Directors
- Teachers
Leadership retreats, motivational speakers, conferences, coaching sessions, and workshops are intentionally prioritized and put in place to support the leadership system above. As it was determined by Dr Garcia to be the top priority of our students’ success. It’s worth noting some of these contracts are well above $100K such as Cruz & Associates (total $144k).
Dr Garcia considers herself not to be status quo and intends to make drastic changes to implement her vision. She considers one of the most effective factors in success of students to be teachers’ perception of students. Additionally, when I asked about how this leadership focused strategy impacted students directly, she insisted the top-down change was higher priority than any drastic change at school/student level.
Despite the decline in test scores in 2023, she persisted in continuing District-Wide Instructional Leadership into 2023-2024. As her next priority addressing decline in academic performance, she is implementing the i-Ready program to customize instructions for each student in 2024. Although Dr. Garcia views herself as an immediate change-maker in terms of MHUSD leadership approach, she implemented i-Ready at the school level after 3 years as the means to address the steady academic decline. She also mentioned she doesn’t necessarily define test scores as sole success criteria.
It is important to note some critics argue that the i-Ready program places too much emphasis on technology, potentially at the expense of teacher-led instruction. And there is not enough evidence for its effectiveness.
Dr. Garcia is notably research-oriented, and her background, coupled with her unique experiences, validates her approach to research-based decision-making. However, it appears that an iterative, evidence-based decision-making process at local level is lacking. An examination of the decisions made within MHUSD over the past 3 years should involve a feedback loop that frequently assesses direct impact on students. And aims at equipping teachers/classrooms with adequate resources. The outcome of this feedback loop should be prioritizing actions that yield measurable improvements: e.g. increasing test scores, enrollment and financial stability.
I also think her failure to embrace local knowledge and experience from previous leadership to accurately define and assess our specific local challenges has led her vision and strategy for MHUSD down an unsuccessful path both academically and financially.
Dr Garcia claimed she has a “steady hand at the helm.” She maintained her confidence in her methods, knowing what works, emphasizing that meaningful change requires time. Upon further inquiry about the expected timeline to witness the outcomes of her strategy, she estimated a minimum of 5 years. Considering her current tenure of 3 years, an additional 2 years would be necessary to observe the fruits of her vision. It is important to note, the board has extended her contract into 2026.