School Board Appoints Reading Literacy Coach at Edsel Ford High School

Dearborn Public Schools has hired a reading literacy data coach at Edsel Ford High School to assist teachers with curriculum planning.

The Dearborn Board of Education approved the position at its meeting on Oct. 14 as part of Edsel Ford's strategy to move off of the state's list of "priority schools" in 2014. The school was ranked one of the worst performing schools in Michigan this year based on the Top to Bottom criteria from the Michigan Department of Education.

As a priority school, Dearborn also to earmark $2 million of its funding for at-risk students to spend at Edsel Ford. Most of that money will be used for teacher training and additional support programs.

David Mustonen, communications coordinator for DPS, said the district looked internally to fill the reading literacy data coach position. Gretchen Bajorek, a teacher at DPS, will move to Edsel Ford full-time and work with teachers to analyze student test scores and provide support for faculty who recommend curriculum changes.

"If a teacher believes that the class curriculum is not in line with the expectations the school is trying to accomplish, Gretchen will work in tandem with the teacher to make the fixes," Mustonen said.

The position will also identify and provide support for students at Edsel Ford considered at-risk for falling behind or dropping out of school.

Mustonen said the district's Secondary Math Coordinator Dana Addis will also move to Edsel Ford. Her position will be filled by Beth Dunleavy, a math teacher at Dearborn High School.

While Edsel Ford may move off of the state's priority list next year, any school identified as a priority school joins a “cohort." The 2013 cohort of priority schools will be under the supervision of a state reform officer until the end of the 2016-17 school year. This allows the state to review the school's progress over multiple years to ensure sustained improvement on standardized testing.