Connecting the Dots

Moving the Needle ThroughSystems Thinking

5 December 2019

LISTEN.COLLABORATE.SUCCEED!

• 25 Years Military/Retired CSM

• 14 Years an Educator• Teacher• Assistant Principal/CTE Director

• 3 years County Superintendent

• Education• B.S. – Business/Technology• M.S. – Educational Technology• Ed. S. – Educational Leadership• Currently Pursuing Doctorate

Organizational Leadership

• Married 30 Years

• 7 Children

• 20 Grand Children

• Cochise County residence since 2001

My Story

Children are the living messages we send to a time we

will not see!-Neil Postman

My Grandchildren

Provide guidance, advocacy, programs, and services which support Cochise County

Schools

Mission

The Purpose of Education

• To discover one’s natural attributes (DNA), then correlate to the needs of the community/county/state/nation/world

• To provide Motivation, Direction & Purpose for our students

• Purpose = Passion

• Increase GDP/GNP – Exports/Imports -Creativity

OUR HISTORY

2017–2018

Connecting the Dots for Student Success

2018–2019

Moving the Needle for Student Success

2019–2020

A Learning Community for Student Success

Economic Independence for our Students = Economic Success for our County

Improve Educational

Culture

• Everyone “Owns” Education

Reach Sustainability

• Feedback & Realignment

Connect the Dots

• Provide Opportunities for feedback

Our Vision• Economic

Independencefor our Students

• Economic Success for our County!

Puts Ripples in EVERYONE’S Pond

Educators & Support

Staff

Legislators

Post Secondary Institutions

City & County Officials

Community Members

School Boards

Businesses

Students and family

Members

Jail and Juvenile

Detention

District Superintendents

It is essential that we

understand the

interdependent

nature of our system

and the importance of

feedback

“Our Education System”

The Body cannot support life unless

all parts work together

Each entity depends on the other, while working independently

No part of the body is more important than the other, and those parts that you

don’t see are usually the most vital!

A system consists of interrelated parts that impact one another in a process that usually produces outputs (Senge, 2006)

Teachers and Staff

Counselors

Legislators

Post Secondary Institutions

City & County Officials

Community Members

School Boards

Businesses

Students and Family Members

Jail/Juvenile Detention

Our Educational

system cannot support

“life” unless all the

parts work together

Education System

If not, the System Becomes

FRAGMENTED!

Bloom (2010) states when an organization stops learning (together), a general overall access to collective knowledge slows or stops and unit fragments

Fragmentation of an organization occurs when parts of the system fail to operate as a cohesive unit (Denton, 1997)

Fragmentation occurs when parts of the system either lost their ability to communicate across boundaries formally or informally

(no more silos)

Fragmentation stems from unawareness of interdependencies

• If there is no EFFECTIVE

conversation regarding the needs of

our education system and community,

our system will falter and eventually

become extinct (McNamara, 2006)

• The ultimate goal is that the

feedback drives the system toward

the goal of self-sustainment

(O’Connor & McDermott, 1997)

The Community don’t know,

what they don’t know!

VENUES FOR FEEDBACK, COLLABORATION & COUNTY LEARNING

• Student Advisory

• Educational Advisory Councils

• CTE/Industry Workshops

• County Question & Answer Forums with Legislators

• Innovations in Education Conferences

• Business Mangers Training

• Governing Board Training

• County Surveys

• County Superintendent’s Roundtable

TOP 5 EDUCATIONAL CONCERNS IN COCHISE COUNTY

45.1143.59

40.87

29.89 29.57

Funding Teacher Retention Teacher/Support Salary Behavior Health School Culture & Climate

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GKS6Q57

Progress Meter – Expect More Arizona

PROGRESS METER – COCHISE COUNTY

2014 - 15 2015 -16 2016 – 17 2017 – 18 2018 - 19

3rd Grade

Reading

38% 40% 41% 43% 44%

8th Grade

Math

30% 28% 32% 34% 42%

HS Grad 80% 80% 84% 84% 87%

Post HS

Enrollment

52% 49% 49% 49% 49%

Opportunity

Youth

22% 19% 15% 15% Not Avail

Attainment (<

2 yrs Coll)

26% 32% 35% 52% Not Avail

Note (*) – Due to data limitations, Opportunity Youth and Attainment data show Cochise and Santa Cruz

counties combined. Otherwise the sample size is too small.

A – F SCORES

• Measures student test scores results on the AzMERIT assessment (if they are proficient and

growing) and if students are graduating from high school or taking steps to prepare for career

or college

• Places more emphasis on growth, which is important because students come into the

classroom at different starting points – some at grade level, some ahead and others behind.

• Five Issues Rural School Face

• Connecting with the community

• Recruiting and Retaining Teachers

• Funding Services for Special Needs Students

• Transportation,

• Technology and Building issues

https://www.expectmorearizona.org/blog/2019/09/26/five-issues-rural-schools-face-and-some-solutions/

A-F SCORES - 2019

7

2

0

14

3 3

15

3 3

4

0 00 0 00

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

K-8 Grade 9-12 Grade Alternative Schools

A Grade B Grade C Grade D Grade F Grade

Approximate variance in test

scores accounted for/Relative

influences on students’

standardized test scores :

Out of school

factors = 60%

unexplained

variance = 20%

classroom

effects = 10%

school effects,

not classroom =

10%

David C. Berliner

Regents’ Professor

Emeritus

Mary Lou Fulton

Teachers College

Arizona State University

OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL FACTORS AFFECTING WHAT OCCURS INSIDE THE SCHOOL & CLASSROOM

• Inadequate medical, dental and vision care

• Food insecurity in the family

• Family relations and family stress

• Percent of mothers at the school site that are single and/or teens

• Percent of mothers at the school site that do not possess a high school degree

• Language spoken at home

• Mental health in the neighborhood

• Drug use in the neighborhood

• Average income in the neighborhood

• Mobility rates of families in the neighborhood

• Availability of positive role models

• Availability of high-quality early education

Systems Thinking

• Looks at how entire system works

• Who is part of the system?

• Does the system communicateeffectively to all parts?

• Is the system misaligned?

• Is the system fragmented?

• Does the system realize that all parts are interdependent and equally important?

• Does the system provide feedback to its parts?

• Does the system continually realign itself due to feedback to achieve sustainability?

Gallup has found out that kids

drop out of school when…

They lose hope to graduate!

*The Coming Job Wars, Clifton, J. 2011

• They lose hope because they don’t feel excited about what’s next in their lives

• Having no vision or excitement for the future is the cause of dropping out of school

•Hope must be given

locally, on a citywide

basis rather than on a state

or national one

•Only a local focus has a

chance…

• And the prize for

our students is not

graduating but

rather a job…

• Even better, an

exciting Career!

OUR FUTURE GOALS

Economic Independence for our Students = Economic Success for our County

Achieve60Cochise

Our Vision

• Cochise County has a diverse, well-educated, skilled workforce participating in a thriving economy

The Statewide Goal

• 60 percent of Arizona adults age 25 to 64 with a professional certificate or college degree by 2030

Ensuring Arizona’s

Competitiveness Through the

Power of Education

By 2030, the state is committed to ensure that 60% of adults hold a certificate, license or

degree

Educational attainment is critical for Arizona’s economic viability and individual prosperity in

an ever more globally competitive world

Governor’s Vision

Ensuring Cochise County's Competitiveness Through

the Power of Education

“Economic Independence for Students = Economic Success for Cochise County”

Achieve60Cochise

Dan Coxworth, Strategic PlanningVada Phelps

Executive, Director, Workforce Development

Dr. Alan BielDean, Cochise College

Dr. Linda DennoDean, Cochise College

Steering Committee

Pillars of AttainmentWorkforce and Business

Development• Attract businesses to

Cochise County with well educated and highly skilled workers and jobs

• Promote businesses with proven success in fostering certificates & degrees among employees

• Develop and expand partnerships between industry & educational providers to align current & future workforce needs

Postsecondary Access and Success

• Work Collaborativelyto address barriers to credential and degree completion through policies & innovation

• Ensure pathways & options for education beyond high school are available to all

• Champion strategiesto make postsecondary educational options more affordable

Early Childhood Through High School

• Emphasize high school graduation & promote best practices for certificate, college and college and career

• Support students through a pathway process to certificates, college and career

Systems and Structures• Utilize metrics &

systems to supportthoughtful Partnerships & Collaboration in pursuit of 60% post high school attainment goal

• Increase public awareness about the options and value of pathways for education beyond high school

• Learn, Share Information, Collaborate and

provide Feedback

• To ensure that Feedback is continually

exchanged among our parts

• To meet the challenges of our school system

and work together towards a common goal

• Collaborate to develop strategies to make

necessary adjustments to achieve our goals

more effectively

• Align labor market efforts with the education pipeline to provide

students with the academic, technical, and employability skills

they need to be successful in the workplace

• Align the education-to-workforce pipeline can help increase cost-

efficiency, promote coherence, and produce better outcomes for

students, workers and employers

• Provide opportunities to develop a coherent approach to ensure

all of today’s students are prepared for tomorrow’s careers and

workforce demands.

• Cochise County has a diverse, well-educated, skilled workforce

participating in a thriving economy

To become a “Learning County” & Reconcile the parts of our

Education system

The Root to the Fruit

Teacher/Educator Shortages

K-12 FundingClosing the

Achievement Gap

Special/Exceptional Needs Program

Teacher/Educator Pay

School Safety

College & Career

Readiness

Feedback

Changing the Culture of Education

Interdependency

RealignmentEffective

Communications

Become a “learning

organization”

Improvement Through Collaboration

3rd Grade Literacy

School Culture/Climate

Assessment/Testing

Career & Technical Education

Juvenile/Jail Education

Border Challenges

Building a Shared VisionThe right people

at the Table

In Conclusion

An educational system that understands its interdependency

is destined for success which is the catalyst for economic growth

and sustainability within the community, state and nation

ALONE WE CAN DO SO LITTLE,

TOGETHER WE CAN DO SO MUCH."

-HELEN KELLER

Jacqui Clay

Cochise County Superintendent of Schools

jclay@Cochise.az.gov

https://www.cochise.az.gov/schools/home

https://www.facebook.com/CochiseCountySuperintendent/

https://twitter.com/jacqui_clay

Office - (520) 432-8950

Cell – (520) 366-6621