Forsyth County Schools Strategic Planning Meeting October 17, 2016 Stan DeJarnett, GSBA Mary Anne Charron, GLISI Sandra McGuire, GSBA

Forsyth County Schools Strategic Improvement Plan The Big Picture Forsyth County Schools Strategic Improvement Plan Dr. Jeff Bearden Superintendent

Goals for the Action Team Engage in the revised FCS Mission Review the Strategic Goal Areas, Performance Objectives, and Strategy Map and continue to refine them throughout the process Develop the Performance Measures, Baselines and Targets that will measure progress toward the Performance Objectives Create district Initiatives and Action Steps that will lead to desired results

Summary: The Four “A’s” ACCOMPLISH AGREE ARGUE ACT Based on Strategic Planning Day1: What do you feel we ACCOMPLISHED? Where did we AGREE? Was there any data or information that your group wanted to ARGUE about? Where do we need to ACT?

We value your feedback… At the end of day please be prepared to complete an electronic feedback survey We value your feedback throughout the process

Where Are We Going?

Mission Is a public declaration used to describe founding purpose and major organizational commitments—i.e., what they do and why they do it Describe day-to-day operational objectives, its instructional values, or its public commitments to its students and community 2014 Great Schools Partnership. Hidden curriculum (2014, August 26). In S. Abbott (Ed.), The glossary of education reform. Retrieved from http://edglossary.org/hidden-curriculum

Forsyth County Schools Mission Report by Todd Shirley Recommendations for Forsyth County Schools Mission

Creating Clear Alignment: FCS Strategic Improvement Planning Process Internal and External Stakeholders FCS District Strategic Improvement Plan FCS Department Plans FCS School Improvement Plans

Continuous Improvement Model Who are we? Beliefs Mission Vision How do we plan to get there? Initiatives Action Plans Where are we now? Performance Data Stakeholder Input SWOT Analysis How will we know we have arrived? Performance Measures & Targets Where do we want to go? Strategic Goals Areas Strategic Priorities Performance Objectives

The Levels of Strategic Improvement Plans Strategic Goal Areas Big buckets of work of the district Performance Objectives 3-4 Objectives that describe what we will do in each Strategic Goal Area Performance Measures Specific measures that will inform us of our progress toward achieving the Performance Objectives Initiatives and Action Steps Work the staff will do to achieve Performance Objectives

That is the WHAT… now WHY?

Analyze Performance from Right to Left Central Office Principal Teacher Student What is the Central Office doing (or not doing) that’s affecting our principals’ ability to lead for instruction? How are we helping or hindering them as instructional leaders? How is principals’ practice affecting teachers’ instruction? What are principals doing (or not doing) as instructional leaders that’s helping or hindering teachers’ instructional performance? How is teachers’ instruction affecting student learning? What are teachers doing (or not doing) in their instruction that is helping or hindering students’ performance? What’s going on with our students’ learning? Source: University of Washington Center for Educational Leadership and The Wallace Foundation, Creating Your Theory of Action for District-wide Teaching and Learning Improvement (2013)

We Analyze Performance from Right to Left We Change Performance from Left to Right Central Office Principal Teacher Student What needs to change in central office practice to better support principal instructional leadership? What needs to change in principal practice to better support teachers’ instructional performance? What needs to change in teacher practice to better support student learning? What needs to change in our students’ learning?

Reviewing our progress

Development of Strategic Goals Areas Strategic Goal Areas: Provide a framework to describe the district’s strategy to reach its mission & vision Include the critical perspectives that must be addressed for the school system to be successful They are too big to be measured

Development of Performance Objectives Developed Performance Objectives that will determine the high level work that Forsyth County Schools will do during the next five years to achieve their desired results. Created Strategy Map which is a summary of the overarching plan and provides a theory of action.

Forsyth County Schools DRAFT Strategy Map Learning and Growth Close the achievement gap Foster social and emotional growth Increase professional learning opportunities Develop effective cultural engagement strategies Increase purposeful school and community partnerships Acquire, train, and retain excellent staff for all positions Culture and Climate Operational Excellence Plan for growth effectively Allocate resources equitably Steward financial resources

Measuring Success

Measuring success begins with clear desired outcomes…

What are the FCS Desired Outcomes? What are FCS Desired Outcomes? 5/18/2018 What are FCS Desired Outcomes? What will be our Impact? What will we do? How we will do it? The mission of Forsyth County Schools is to prepare and inspire all students to contribute and excel. Learning and Growth Culture and Climate Operational Excellence Quality learning and superior performance for ALL.

Performance Measures What are Performance Measures? High level indicators that are tracked throughout the life of your plan to report your progress in each Performance Objective and will help you determine if you are meeting your Desired Outcomes

Performance Measures Include: Demographic Perception Student Learning Demographic Perception Process School Process Student Learning Think back for a minute to the Data Analysis module. One of the four data sources is school processes. School processes represent those practices, processes, and procedures over which we have control and influence. I may not be able to fix the Literacy of my district overnight, but I can begin by looking at the process of how teachers are scoring student work. When we continuously improve what the adults do - processes and practices – we move the needle on student learning and achievement. Source: Victoria L. Bernhardt, Data Analysis for Continuous Improvement, Third Edition (2013)

Performance Measures Criteria Check your Performance Measures for these criteria: Start with a strong verb such as increase, decrease Include %, #, Ratio, $ Reflect one result/measure Are timely and actionable Are meaningful and understandable Are expressed annually or more frequently

Example Performance Objective Performance Measures Increase Rigor for ALL Students Performance Objective Increase % students scoring within or above the Lexile band Increase % students taking advanced courses in middle school Increase % of freshman taking AP classes Performance Measures

Determining Baselines Review current and past performance levels for each Performance Measure Start with measures that are readily available For new measures, decide how to collect data needed to determine baselines Express baselines in correct units of measure (numbers, percentages, dollars, ratios, etc.)

Targets Your target answers the question: “Where do we want to be, and by when?” The target is the performance level desired for your future state — the level of results that are projected You should project a target for each of the next three years to five years

Those last 5% points are the most difficult to achieve! Work Backwards Think where you want to be in 3-4 years and work backwards Set targets that are achievable, but will require you to work It is easier to make larger gains early on…so plan accordingly! Those last 5% points are the most difficult to achieve!

Baseline and Target Example Performance Measure: Increase % of students scoring within or above the Lexile band Baseline: 2016 – 55% within or above Target : 2017 - 62% within or above 2018 - 68% within or above 2019 - 72% within or above 2020 – 76% within or above

Performance Measure Activity At your table, generate a short list of the Performance Measures for your first Performance Objective that will allow FCS to demonstrate world-class success for the specified objective. Write your Performance Measures on your chart paper and be prepared to discuss WHAT measures you selected and WHY you selected them. Select a spokesperson to explain your chart.

Carousel Activity In our carousel activity, listen for and ask questions about: What is being measured? What is the baseline? What are the targets and why were they selected? Why did you select these measures for this Performance Objective?

Performance Measure Activity At your table, finalize the Performance Measures for your remaining Performance Objectives that will allow FCS to demonstrate world- class success for the specified objectives.

Initiatives: Starting with your Desired Outcomes For each Performance Objective think about where you want to be in 3-4 years. Remember your DESIRED OUTCOMES? Once you have developed clear DESIRED OUTCOMES, you can break it down into the first year Initiatives

Understanding Initiatives Each Performance Objective will have Initiatives attached that identify how your district will address improving your desired performance Initiatives are assigned to a team or leader for further research, data analysis, measuring, monitoring and support They are usually in place for at least a year Initiatives have short names, like the title of a book

Initiative Example Literacy Initiative Vertical Teaming Initiative Performance Objective Increase Rigor for All Students All students will be reading, writing, speaking and listening at high levels so that they are prepared for college and careers Literacy Initiative Vertical Teaming Initiative Desired Outcome Initiatives Have team members review the Action Plan of the Sample School Improvement Plan.

Understanding Action Steps Are the things you will DO to complete the Initiative Should be very specific Should be created with input from people who will carry them out Should be reviewed AT LEAST each six weeks to ensure you are making progress

Action Steps Should Include: Teams to develop and drive the work Data analysis and root cause analysis that identify your problem areas and why you have them Research to identify best practices in this area Development of year 1 implementation strategy Provide training if needed Communication and buy-in plan Progress checks Revisions Person responsible Sustainability plan Repeat the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle with fidelity

Initiative and Action Steps Process Begin with the Desired Outcome Determine what Initiatives you need in place that will drive you to your desired targets and outcomes. Assign the district leader who will serve as oversight to the Initiatives Create the Action Steps for each Initiative Determine who will be involved in working on the Action Steps Be prepared to share you work

FCS Strategic Planning Next Steps Set up your next meeting(s) date to finalize your Performance Measures and district Initiatives and Action Steps Complete your Performance Measures, Initiatives and Action Steps for each Performance Objective and ensure they are on Google Drive by November 4, 2016

Remember… bit.ly/forsythaction Please complete and submit with your feedback at the following link: bit.ly/forsythaction We value your feedback throughout the process

Please contact us at: Mary Anne Charron maryanne.charron@glisi.org 404-630-4560 Stan DeJarnett sdejarnett@gavisionproject.org 706-474-2807 Sandra McGuire smcquire@gsba.com 770-962-6858