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 PLCs Community 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 Collaboration Variety 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 5 th 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 II3-8 Reading Composite 3 rd MathMath I 4 th Reading3-8 Math Composite 3 rd Reading 5 th Reading5 and 8 Science Composite 5 th Math 8 th Math4 th Math5 th Science 6 th Math7 th Reading 7 th Math 8 th Reading 8 th 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.

Ceretha Mitchell Chief Academic Officer