The Heart of Improvement: Leadership. The Story of Thomasville City Schools…
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Transcript of The Heart of Improvement: Leadership. The Story of Thomasville City Schools…
The Heart of
Improvement:
Leadership
The Story of Thomasville City Schools…
We knew our kids were as smart as any other kids,
but we also knew we weren’t reaching them.
We had to do things differently!
Excellence is the Standard…
because our children deserve it!
What does leading a team look like?
What obstacles do leaders face today?
Walkthroughs
PLCsCommunity Events
Observations
Discipline
Parent Conferences
Professional Development REALITY!
At the heart of all effective leaders…• Leaders serve as catalyst for actions
and drives the success of the schools
• Leaders focus on STUDENTS
• Leaders foster a safe, healthy, and supportive learning environment
What does it look like to UNITE ALL stakeholders and ensure that everyone
marches in the same direction?
Assembling the TROOPS!
• Ensure effective district and school leadership• Engage parents, communities and schools to work
as partners• Understand and hold high expectations for all
students• Align, monitor, and manage the curriculum• Create a culture of data and assessment literacy• Build and sustain instructional capacity• Reorganize time, space and transitions
Getting started…
Transforming Leadership
Shifting mindset…
Why are some
high-poverty schools performing and others
not?
•Building leadership capacity;•Fostering a safe, healthy, and supportive learning environment; and•Focusing on student, professional, and system learning.
“After setting the context by examining poverty and
its stunning effects on students, the authors then
zero in on what HP/HP schools stopped doing or
eliminated and what they started doing or improved
on in three key areas of performance:”
“We had to get to a point where we were all on board with the belief that every kid was going to learn, that every family mattered, and that regardless of the condition of the home, this child would learn and reach proficiency. WE WOULD DO WHATEVER IT TOOK… ALL OF US”
Planning for Excellence
Leadership Analyzed the Definition of Rigor
• NC State Board Policy GCS-F-016
• Foundation for the Instructional Framework in Thomasville City
Common Language: TCS Instructional Framework
Communicate
Clearly
CollaborationVariety of
Assessments
Reflect for
Improvement
Positive Relationships
to Encourage Risk
Taking
Mastery of the Standards
Critical Thinking
Scenarios
Professional Learning
Communities
Curriculum Alignment Sessions with ALL TEACHERS
Monitoring Excellence
• Instructional Excellence Inventories– 4 times per year at each site
(All to be completed before May)– Each Inventory includes a data dive, several
classroom walkthroughs, a teacher focus group, and a student focus group
– Central Office Leaders as observers
Monitoring Excellence
– Each inventory focuses on:• High Expectations for Staff and Students• Curriculum and Instructional Alignment• Data Analysis and Instructional Planning
– Each inventory is modeled after NC DPIs Comprehensive Needs Assessment, which was based on the Cambridge Education School Quality Review Process
Developing Teacher Leaders
• District Professional Development: Mini-conferences
• RttT Mini-grant: Teachers Helping Teachers• Math Science Partnership Grant• Summer Professional Development 2014
Identifying Leaders in the Community
• Community Members as Leaders
• Parents as Leaders
• Students as Leaders
Leaders Create a Central Message
Thomasville City Schools’ Past
• Priority Schools/RttT Lowest Achieving District
• State mandated test performance was below the state average
• Graduation rate was below the state average
How do we know our efforts are working?
• TCS has been named to the College Board’s 5th Annual AP District Honor Roll for increasing student success on AP exams. TCS is 1 of 4 districts in NC.
• TCS has seen increases in state mandated tests and the graduation rate.
How do we know it is working?
• All TCS schools met or exceeded growth.• 91% of TCS elementary, middle, and high
school teachers met or exceeded growth.• Increased the attendance rate• TCS students increased college scholarships
from $2.4 million to over $3.5 million.
Growth from 2013 Levels 3 and 4 to 2014 Levels 3,4,5 (GLP)
5 % or more Gain
10% or more Gain
15% or more Gain
20% or more Gain
English II 3-8 Reading Composite
3rd Math Math I
4th Reading 3-8 Math Composite
3rd Reading
5th Reading 5 and 8 Science Composite
5th Math
8th Math 4th Math 5th Science 6th Math 7th Reading 7th Math 8th Reading 8th Science
“The urgency of the hour calls for leaders of wise judgment and sound integrity-leaders not in love with money, but in love with justice; leaders not in love with publicity, but in love with humanity; leaders who can subject their particular egos to the greatness of the cause.” ~Martin Luther King, Jr.