Teachers and scholars

The news was not all good.

Observers will not see an immediate jump in student test scores, Hardy said. He predicted that will become a criticism among some people, but he told the audience the test scores were not the first area of focus.

“I know for a fact, when we get our final scores back, there’s not going to be a huge jump after this first year,” Hardy said. “And I knew that going into it. The plan was to get the foundation right, to get the right people on the bus, to get the right leaders here to start with us next year.”

Hardy acknowledged teachers felt ignored as he assembled the leadership team. He said he felt terrible that feeling came across.

“The reality of the situation is, that is the next step that we need to take,” Hardy said about teacher development. Lorain schools will have a new Teachers Executive Advising Network to talk, give feedback and travel to see successful schools.

Hardy started the night with two student quotations and with survey data of elementary, middle and high school students. The results, particularly at Lorain High School, showed a number of scholars did not feel great about issues such as student engagement, academic rigor, relationships with teachers or peers, school culture and college and career readiness.

Now, students get most attention and affirmation from online “likes” in social media, Hardy said.

“It triggers dopamine in their brain to say, wow, I feel valued,” Hardy said. “So they’re looking for those shots of dopamine to make them feel really good about themselves and they’re looking for adults to help us do that. And I say adults because that’s a collective, district challenge.

“It is all of us and thinking about how do we help serve and support our kids to make them feel loved, right?” he said.