William “Larry” Cobb

Dawson County Jr. High School
Dawsonville, Georgia
larry.cobb@dawson.k12.ga.us

Best Practices

1) As the Assistant Principal at Brunswick High School from 2004-2006, I worked closely with two area churches to gain their support in developing and implementing a High School graduation test preparation class. Working with the community improved parent and student relations while providing students with opportunities to gain support in their studies and ultimately improve their test scores. The churches had more than one hundred students attend the classes, and many of those students passed the graduation test on their first test attempt.

2) As the Assistant Principal at Dawson County Junior High School, I oversee scheduling for all students. Working in concert with the school’s Principal, we review student records to determine the best class placement. Though this sounds like an easy task, the data review is extensive. Reviewing student data includes Lexile scores, Georgia Milestone scores, student requests, teacher recommendations, past class grades and student attendance. Through this data, we do our best to gain an academic profile of the students’ abilities before placing them in classes. Using the Response to Intervention process or MTSS, we place students into remediation courses, after school programs, arrange for tutoring, as well as placing students with teachers we believe are the best match for their learning needs. After placing students in their courses, we continuously review student data to determine if the placement is working and adjust the schedule as needed.

It doesn’t end there. Once our students are scheduled, we continue to work with our teachers through the year by offering professional development opportunities, which are personalized to our teachers’ instructional needs and our students’ learning needs. I also work closely with teachers in learning how to analyze their classroom data to develop appropriate and personalized instruction for their students.