The Vallas System for comphrensive education reform
Recently, Cambium Learning Group, one of the nation’s leading providers of educational services to students, in conjunction with the Vallas Group, developed an education improvement model to help struggling schools across the nation. The model, the “Vallas Turnaround System,” has become a leading resource for comprehensive and affordable education reform at the state and district level. The model addresses three major areas in school reform: academic rigor, logistics, and affordability. It tackles affordability and sustainability for schools by encouraging them to develop creative ways that they can use their existing budget allocations to reduce costs and maximize resources.
The Vallas plan also puts an emphasis on the ways students are supported and extends more opportunities to them by redistributing teacher responsibility more equitably to include a better blend of academic and applied learning to help students achieve their goals and meet national standards. The Vallas Turnaround System will also improve the quality of existing teachers and administrators through more effective standardization and professional development techniques that will provide a basis for certification and partnership programs that seek to bring in new teachers.
Paul Vallas, founder of the Vallas Group and distinguished scholar at the Wilson Center, noted that “Through Cambium, we have the platform to more widely offer the Vallas Turnaround System to bring about lasting school improvement that is both approachable and accessible by districts and schools that might not otherwise have the resources.” He emphasized “The Vallas Group is committed to affordable change, so that cost is no longer the deciding factor for schools when it comes to impacting student achievement through the system.” Paul Vallas is the former superintendent of schools in Chicago, Philadelphia, and The Recovery School District in Louisiana. He is now the interim superintendent of Bridgeport Public Schools in Connecticut.
