Utica Community Schools' Efforts Drive SAT Preparation Readiness

Dr. Christine Johns is an experienced academic leader who serves as superintendent of Utica Community Schools (UCS) in Michigan. Committed to preparing students for competitive college and career environments, superintendent Dr. Christine Johns has overseen efforts surrounding Michigan’s recent transition from the American College Test (ACT) to the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT).

The shift was set in place by the Michigan Department of Education, which mandated that, starting with the class of 2016, high school juniors must take the SAT. This followed a determination that the SAT aligned better than the ACT with the state’s academic standards.

Starting in 2015, school administrators coordinated with UCS educators to ensure that they engaged with CollegeBoard training materials. By reviewing sample exams of the newly revised SAT, teachers were able to define optimal testing strategies and transmit this to students.

Students are already on track for SAT success, as they take the PSAT in 10th grade to familiarize themselves with the test structure and materials and define skills they must improve to attain admittance into college. Parents were also encouraged to get involved, and more than 500 attended a district-led SAT awareness meeting.                            

AVID at Three UCS Secondary Schools

Dr. Christine Johns serves as superintendent of Utica Community School (UCS). Students within the UCS system have been performing above state and national averages. Three of the secondary schools that Dr. Christine Johns oversees as superintendent offer the Advancement via Individual Determination (AVID) program.

AVID was started by Mary Catherine Swanson in 1980. It is now a global nonprofit organization with a guiding principle of having students adhere to the highest standards while providing the necessary academic and social assistance. AVID methodology believes students will rise to the occasion.

Annually, AVID programs provide training to over 30,000 educators, who learn to use proven techniques to prepare students to achieve success in high school, college, and in a chosen career. There is emphasis on traditionally underrepresented students in higher education.

While the AVID College Readiness System is intended for elementary, secondary, and higher education, a school district may implement independently the part that it needs.

Ninety-nine percent of students under the AVID system graduate from high school on time.

The Educator Micro-Credentials Initiative of Digital Promise

Multi-awarded Dr. Christine Johns is the superintendent of Utica Community Schools, which is the second-largest school district in Michigan. Superintendent Dr. Christine Johns, who earned her PhD from Harvard University, is among only 40 invited national educators to take part in Digital Promise.

Digital Promise involves the collaboration of education leaders, learning technology developers, and researchers, in using technology and research to provide better learning opportunities for all Americans. This independent, bipartisan, nonprofit organization has a number of undertakings, including its educator micro-credential initiative.

While educators are learning new skills on a regular basis, it is usually only at the start of their careers that they earn credentials. Hence, Digital Promise is establishing a coalition among educators and partners to create a micro-credential system the will recognize teachers who have mastered certain skills in the course of their career. This will give America’s educational system the capability to regularly identify and disseminate the best practices of the country’s educators and will encourage all teachers to improve their existing skills as well as learn new ones.

Utica Community Schools Rank among Washington Post's Most Challenging

Superintendent of schools for the Utica Community Schools (UCS) district in Sterling Heights, Michigan, Dr. Christine Johns maintains a commitment to implementing new initiatives to foster student success. A recipient of a 2014 Tech-Savvy Superintendent of the Year Award by eSchool News, Dr. Christine Johns also leads her schools in receiving national attention as a forerunner for positive educational changes. For instance, the Washington Post has recognized all four UCS high schools through the America’s Most Challenging High Schools list in multiple years.

The America’s Most Challenging High Schools consists of a listing of the nation’s most academically challenging high school institutions based on the ratio results of an internal index formula. Known as the Challenge Index, the formula examines students’ participation in advanced placement programs and divides the number of tests taken by the number of graduating seniors for each year. Particular program tests the Challenge Index looks for include International Baccalaureate (IB), Advanced Placement (AP), and the Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE). In order to rank among the listing, schools must obtain an index ratio of 1.00, which indicates that the number of tests taken that year match the number of graduating seniors.

Organizers for the America’s Most Challenging High Schools list choose not to include student test results as a factor due to the actions undertaken by some schools to boost their test score rates. According to research conducted by organizers, some schools establish artificial test score rates by only allowing top students to participate in IB, AP, and AICE courses. Furthermore, the listing also excludes well-known magnet and charter schools whose concentration of top-preforming students exceeds the highest average for open enrollment schools.

League of Innovative Schools Drives Public Education Reform

Dr. Christine Johns serves as superintendent of Utica Community Schools in Michigan. As superintendent, Dr. Christine Johns has championed new ideas in public education through her participation in Digital Promise.

President Obama launched Digital Promise in 2011, after its authorization by Congress. It was created as a nonprofit, bipartisan organization devoted to developing new educational technologies.

One of its chief components is the League of Innovative Schools, which promotes solutions to challenges facing K-12 schools. It unites the efforts of school leaders using information technologies to benefit student achievement, and tests new ideas for teaching and learning in 73 member districts. These schools educate a total of over 3.2 million students from diverse backgrounds.

Digital Promise also sponsors collaborative activities on topics suggested by league members. Included in these working groups are such subjects as connectivity, funding, evaluation, and communication.

In another Digital Promise initiative, policy thought leaders, superintendents, and teachers convened to share their views and experiences with competency-based education. This concept emphasizes personal growth for students and tailors learning to their individual needs.

Communities That Care Enhance Student Achievement

The superintendent of Utica Community Schools in Michigan, Dr. Christine Johns believes strongly in public involvement in the activities of K-12 education. In a recent blog post, Dr. Christine Johns expressed her beliefs in the importance of civic support for teaching and learning.

The superintendent listed three necessities for a strong community: quality schools, secure neighborhoods, and thriving businesses. The care of the community for its children makes these three goals possible.

School-related endeavors help in a number of ways. Experienced students mentor younger ones, elder citizens help with tutoring, parents confer with teachers, and business leaders encourage career plans.

Students themselves appreciate these examples of voluntary action. Utica pupils were asked to identify supports that help them in their education. Possible choices included their interest in school (engagement), ideas and plans for the future (hope), and their beliefs about upcoming success (well-being).

Respondents gave more positive responses to these factors than the national average for school children. To Dr. Johns, these results indicate optimistic beliefs about their prospects; one source for this hopeful outlook was the knowledge that their community cared for and believed in them.

The Benefits of Taking AP Courses

Over the last decade, Dr. Christine Johns has overseen district-wide educational programs in her role as superintendent of Utica Community Schools in Michigan. Throughout her tenure as superintendent, Dr. Christine Johns has aimed to facilitate student success through such avenues as Advance Placement (AP) programs.

Many high school students in their junior and senior years elect to take AP courses that can further their educational opportunities. Encompassing a wide range of subjects, these classes provide a wide range of benefits to students who take them.

Those who achieve high scores from their AP courses have the unique opportunity to earn early credit for college classes. This allows students to complete their undergraduate degrees in fewer semesters, thus helping them save money on tuition. In addition, high AP scores often help students earn scholarships, which further minimizes the cost of higher education.

Not only do AP courses better prepare high school students for a college education, but they also allow them to immediately enroll in the more challenging courses that more directly pertain to their majors. Further, choosing to take AP classes impresses college admissions officers, and excelling at the AP level provides even further evidence that a student is prepared for higher education.

Educational Opportunities with Utica Community Schools

An experienced superintendent from Sterling Heights, Michigan, Dr. Christine Johns plays an instrumental role in facilitating the success of students at Utica Community Schools (UCS). In her role as superintendent of schools, Dr. Christine Johns oversees a number of the district’s educational programs that serve both children and adults.

In addition to standard educational programs for students in elementary, junior high, and high school, UCS holds a number of specialized instructional courses. These programs serve both the district’s schools and the community at large, providing opportunities for all students to pursue an education. The following are a few of the learning opportunities offered through UCS.

-Technical Education. Through UCS’ technical program, students can cultivate practical, career-based skills to benefit their future work. These courses cover expertise across a number of fields, including industrial engineering and business management. Technical education students can also earn college credit through a number of local schools.

-Adult Education. UCS hosts a community education program through which adults can pursue an education and earn their high school diploma or GED. The program’s network of certified teachers offers both standard and personalized classes to best serve the needs of each student.

-English Learner (EL) program. The UCA EL program aims to help non-native speakers learn the English language and gain a strong education in the process. Through this program, students build not only their speaking skills, but also their writing and reading capabilities.                            

The Rotation Model of Blended Learning Theory

The superintendent at Utica Community Schools in Sterling Heights, Michigan, Dr. Christine Johns has spearheaded a number of educational changes at schools in her district. As superintendent, Dr. Christine Johns introduced to kindergarten through second-grade classrooms a blended learning model, which garnered national attention for its focus on personalized instruction for each student.

The term “blended learning” refers to a formal education program involving elements such as student control over pacing, online learning, supervised study away from home, and integrated subject-based learning. Blended learning often adheres to a rotation model, during which students rotate among various activities according to a fixed schedule determined by the instructor.

The rotation model often incorporates physical stations in a classroom or group of rooms, as well as computer labs for online learning components. In the flipped classroom rotation, students conduct their primary learning via online modules and visit a brick-and-mortar location for teacher-guided practice of concepts. The rotation model also includes individual rotation, in which students design their own rotation schedules.

Utica Community Schools Serves Students from a Variety of Backgrounds

Dr. Christine Johns serves as superintendent of Utica Community Schools, a 36-school district located in Sterling Heights, Michigan. Dr. Christine Johns’ role as superintendent requires her to preside over a student population that contains individuals from a variety of backgrounds.

Ninety percent of the student population in Utica Community Schools is white, and 4 percent is African-American. Asian students make up 3 percent of the population, Latino students account for 1.8 percent, and non-white minorities make up the remaining 1.2 percent.

Utica Community Schools serves almost 1,000 students who fall into the category of English language learners. Collectively, these students speak 46 different languages. Utica’s English Learner (EL) program emphasizes teaching students who are learning English to improve their skills in the areas of reading, writing, speaking and listening. They are also given guidance on how to strategize academically.

The EL program often serves bilingual students, but many students enrolled in the program actually come into it knowing several languages.

Montessori Education - An Introduction

Dr. Christine Johns, superintendent of the Utica School District in Michigan, has dedicated much of her tenure to increasing opportunities and choices for students. At the elementary level, Superintendent Dr. Christine Johns offers families the option of a Montessori education as an alternative to the traditional classroom.

Montessori stands out as a child-focused pedagogy that capitalizes on a child's natural curiosity and interest in learning. The approach stemmed from the observations of the method's pioneer, Maria Montessori, who discovered that self-directed learning in a carefully designed environment led children to a deeper understanding of subjects and how they relate. From this knowledge, Montessori developed an educational method that allows children to follow their curiosity and engage with materials specifically designed to foster discovery.

Montessori education features multi-age classroom groupings in which children help each other learn. Teachers prepare the environment and guide the children toward lessons that best suit their development at a particular point in time. Children choose from the lessons offered to become fully formed individuals capable of self-direction and an integrated understanding of material across subject areas.