FUESD invests $200k in professional learning for staff

The Fallbrook Union Elementary School District’s (FUESD) board of trustees and the superintendent’s staff has taken strides to invest more of the district’s dollars in the education of its teaching staff, which will prepare them to better teach students, said Superintendent Candy Singh.

According to Singh, the board has approved an initial budget for professional development for $200,000 for the year.

“Much of this amount will be dedicated to training all K-6 teachers in our new English language arts curriculum adoption,” she said. “The seminars are more about creating focus and congruence within the district.”

Singh believes that by sending the district’s teachers to seminars and conferences directly relating to the district’s goals, the district will be able to move out of its Year 3 Needs Improvement standing.

“The district had to dedicate a certain amount of its budget to the support of its staff and help find ways to improve because of its status,” explained Singh.

The board and Singh agreed that some of the district’s initiatives for the year would be both the increase of professional learning and increasing student achievement. In order to help increase professional learning in teachers, Singh stated that staff members would be working on enhancing and developing various skills, including literacy and math instruction, professional collaboration and data analysis.

The district’s goals in literary and math instruction are to “meet the needs of all students,” said Singh, which will ensure advanced to not-yet-proficient students all grow academically each year.

“We are also investing in the professional learning of our school principals to enhance their instructional leadership skills,” said Singh. “The most effective schools are lead by highly skilled principals.”

The district is also helping teachers learn how to better collaborate with their colleagues so as to create a professional learning community in which teachers and leaders work together effectively to ensure high levels of learning for every student, continued Singh.

Finally, teachers have been going to seminars and conferences regarding data analysis, which would teach educators on how to use student assessment information to improve and modify our instruction to meet specific student needs.

“The main factor was learning how to raise students’ achievement levels,” said Singh. “It is critical to invest regularly.”

However, because of the district’s limited budget, Singh stated that sending staff to just any conference would not do.

“It’s important to invest in seminars that are focused towards the district’s goals,” said Singh. “In any other career, businesses invest in their employees so that they are able to have the support needed for achievement. We really want to help our teachers through this training, and in doing so, teach them how to be effective team members.”

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