Concerns Grow Over Teaching Methods at Riverwood

The national controversy over the teaching and administrative style inspired by the Broad Superintendents Academy has reached Sandy Springs. Teachers and parents have complained.

The Broad Academy has been said to educate superintendents to use corporate strategies in school systems. Fulton County Schools superintendent, Dr. Robert Avossa, is a 2011 graduate of the Broad Academy, which is based in Los Angeles, Calif.

During a February Governance Board meeting at Riverwood International Charter High School, a veteran teacher complained that former principal Chris Triolo placed a higher priority on outcomes and test scores than on the quality of what students were learning. 

See below: Interim principal addresses concerns over honors biology course.

From the start of Triolo’s tenure, teachers were assessed solely on standards for promotion, the teacher said. “We saw him execute the Broad plan meticulously, but it was done without any thought of what is Riverwood and what we want to preserve,” the teacher said.

Triolo served as Riverwood principal for just over a year. He resigned in January after accepting a position in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System in North Carolina where he and Avossa previously worked.

Patch has not learned that Triolo is a graduate of Broad; some teachers and parents believe he carried out its suggested corporate strategy.

Ron Tesch is the interim principal at Riverwood. The former Milton High School principal set retirement aside for the temporary job. Teachers and parents wish he would stay on as principal permanently.

Fulton Schools spokesperson Samatha Evans told Patch that when Triolo started at Riverwood the school system had just launched a new performance management system. Also teacher evaluations are up to the human resources department, she said.

“I thnk people are making assumptions," she said. "Our growth process is based on trying to develop staff along the way."

She added, "We don’t go to Broad looking for people. I know that we utilize some of their best practices."

Patch has learned that Riverwood parents have complained that students in ninth grade honors biology classes are being taught with the primary goal of passing tests instead of learning the fundamentals of the course. As a result the students have learned very little, a parent said.

"They were being taught using a methodology that the kids did not understand," the parent said. "Kids started failing."

Tesch sent a letter to parents stating that he is taking steps to address their concerns about the honors biology course. The letter is attached to this story.

The Broad Academy controversy includes the idea that teachers and administrators either come and go at fast rates, moving on to better opportunities; or superintendents are forced out after a backlash over their tactics.

A story on rethinkingschools.org provides insight on Broad and some graduates, including the former head of Chicago Public Schools, Jean-Claude Brizard, who stepped down last fall after a brief teacher's strike and 17-months on the job.

See also:

Fulton County Schools and Involved Riverwood Parent Differ on Magnet Funds from Overcrowding

Overcrowding at Riverwood Causing Safety Concerns

Riverwood Experiences Another Change in Principals

Former Riverwood Principal Will Take Over Riverwood for Interim