‘PSS not alone with its many problems’

The CNMI’s Public School System is not alone with the problems it is faced with because majority of other U.S. states are facing similar challenges, according to Education associate commissioner David M. Borja.

Borja, who just returned from a weeklong national conference on student achievement in Arizona, said the issues that several school systems shared during the conference were similar to what CNMI has been trying to achieve in making sure that its students are given the best education.

He cited Montana as a big state that is also faced with problems similar to that of the CNMI. “They are also struggling to maintain the American native language, similar to CNMI bilingual program,” he said.

Borja said the next step for the CNMI’s school system is to be aware of what is going on in the nation. “Because we strive for the same purpose, the nation doesn’t dictate to us what accomplishments we must do [since] we develop that ourselves and every state does the same.”

The conference, according to Borja, discussed student learning from a national perspective, the role of the states and the challenges inherent in providing for districts and schools, and the recurring patterns and emerging concerns of the entire educational system in the United States.

Borja said they heard the successes and some of the steps other states are currently doing to improve student achievements.

The conference also tackled the importance of leadership and capacity building for successful interventions in schools.

The conference also had sessions presented by various states such as Louisiana, Florida, Virginia, Massachusetts, Washington and Michigan. Each state discussed about revisions, rewards, systems improvements and framework for change in their respective school system.

Team discussions and laboratory sessions were the portions Borja found very effective. The represented school states were divided into teams for team discussion. The team meeting, said Borja, was an avenue for all school state officers to discuss the problems and the breakthroughs of their respective school system.

Borja said the CNMI shared what the Public School System has been accomplishing and its goals in upgrading the reading level of local students by 2008 and the overall performance of the students by 50 percent by 2010.

Borja found the conference an excellent experience, saying that being with other Pacific region states like the American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands made them proud that the CNMI was represented in full force.

Borja was accompanied by PSS director of finance Richard Waldo, Board of Education member Marja Lee Taitano, Curriculum and Instructions Assessment officer John Guerrero, PSS legal counsel Karen Klaver and William S. Reyes Elementary School principal Alfred Ada.

The conference was on “Rewards and Sanctions, Helping States Guide Effective Interventions to Improve Student Achievement,” held at Wyndham Buttes Hotel in Tempe, Arizona, from Feb. 17 to 19. It was presented by the Council of Chief State School Officers.