Meet Michelle Rhee's replacement

[Recursion]

http://dc.gov/DCPS/About+DCPS/Who+We+Are/Leadership+Team/Kaya+Henderson

A native of Mt. Vernon, N.Y, Henderson was born on July 1, 1970, and attended Mt. Vernon public schools, where she graduated from Mt. Vernon High School with honors. Henderson was strongly influenced by her late mother, Kathleen Henderson, an educator who became a school principal at the age of 30. The elder Henderson worked in Yonkers, New York City and Long Island Public Schools.

...
Her education career began as a middle school Spanish teacher in the South Bronx, and she spent her summers overseeing the professional development of new teachers at summer institutes with Teach for America. She also served Teach for America as a recruiter and the national director of admissions. In 1997, she became the executive director of Teach For America-DC, where she was responsible for 170 teachers in more than 50 DC public schools.

In 2000, Henderson began her work with The New Teacher Project, where she eventually became the Vice President for Strategic Partnerships, overseeing the organization’s work on improving teacher hiring for school districts from a process, policy and capacity-building perspective.

She also launched alternative certification programs—including the DC Teaching Fellows Program—in a number of districts. Her work significantly contributed to the organization’s two major reports: Missed Opportunities and Unintended Consequences.

In 2001, she worked closely with DCPS leadership and the Washington Teachers’ Union to make significant policy changes to improve teacher hiring in the district.

...

Henderson’s team also led the development of IMPACT, a new and innovative teacher assessment system designed to ensure that an effective teacher is leading every classroom in DCPS. Henderson’s work in developing human capital at DCPS has served as a model for other school districts throughout the country.

I've heard her referred to as the reason that the teachers' union was overwhelmingly willing to accept the new contract; apparently she has the "people" skills Rhee lacks. It also seems to dispel the ideas people had about Gray reversing the restructuring of DCPS.

[Smarmie Doofus]

1. Euphemisms abound. Translation, please:

>>>>In 2000, Henderson began her work with The New Teacher Project, where she eventually became the Vice President for Strategic Partnerships, overseeing the organization’s work on improving teacher hiring for school districts from a process, policy and capacity-building perspective. >>>>>

OTOH... she did go to a *real* public HS. More than real. Whew.

(Denzel Washington attended MVHS, BTW, if I'm not mistaken.)

[Recursion]

2. I can translate two parts

In 2001, she worked closely with DCPS leadership and the Washington Teachers’ Union to make significant policy changes to improve teacher hiring in the district.

Translation: once Barry was no longer mayor, DCPS could stop being his personal spoils system and a jobs program for ward 8. (Remember, there's no state board of education. DCPS had been in Federal receivership for a while, came back under city council control, then to a board appointed by the mayor; at any rate it was never independent of city politics, and that's only gotten worse.) She was part of a push to end the kind of cronyism that had plagued DCPS (along with every other aspect of the city) for a long time.

Henderson’s team also led the development of IMPACT, a new and innovative teacher assessment system designed to ensure that an effective teacher is leading every classroom in DCPS. Henderson’s work in developing human capital at DCPS has served as a model for other school districts throughout the country.

IMPACT is the program that seems to really piss people off; it is an assessment system that gives a lot more weight to student test scores than people want. That said, the union agreed to it 3-to-1. So she seems better at selling her ideas to people than Rhee was.

[Hannah Bell]

3. The New Teacher Project = Rhee's brainchild. This woman was her second-in-command.

any questions?

http://www.tntp.org/index.php/about-us/

[texshelters]

4. No

you answered my questions.

Peace,
Tex Shelters
http://texshelters.wordpress.com/