Djouadi said she keeps working in
schools because she still knows how to make them much better. Arling- ton County spokeswoman Linda Erdos teasingly refers to Djouadi as “a failed retiree” and predicts the same fate for Jackson, who announced her own re- tirement in September. One recent afternoon, Djoua-
di joined Randolph principal Renee Bostick and her leadership team in the school’s math coaches’ tiny room. Seven women scrunched into fifth-grade-size seats around a fourth-grade-size table. For two hours they coped with the in- tricacies of assessment. Djouadi asked many questions, all in a friendly tone. In the meeting, Djouadi repeatedly
praised ideas suggested by Randolph staff members and said she was recom- mending them to school headquarters and to other schools. The group dis- cussed directives from headquarters — how best to implement them and fulfill the school system’s mandates. Djouadi suggested the staff members do what made sense to them, hinting that she would make the necessary explana- tions to the policymakers above. She offered some public relations
advice. Sometimes parents, and even teachers, questioned the reasons for some of the school’s initiatives. Here, Djouadi said, choice of words was cru- cial. For instance, people might com- plain that the school’s preparations for the state exams was “teaching to the test.” Djouadi had heard that one be- fore. Her suggested response: “Is there something bad in the test we should not be teaching to?” Learning requires review, a type of
“re-teaching.” That is what tests are for, Djouadi explained. She looked at the educators sitting around the low table, waiting expectantly for an an- swer. They needed to offer complainers a new perspective, she said, to see the essence of what the school was trying to achieve. When people express con- cern about tests, she said, “it may be a problem of vocabulary. I say: ‘We are teaching and re-teaching for under- standing.’ ”
Jay Mathews is The Post’s education columnist. See his blog at washingtonpost.com/class-struggle. He can be reached at mathewsj@ washpost.com.
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