1. Managing Cohesive Instructional Change Across Buildings:
The Academies of Cleveland
Erin Frew
Academic Superintendent
STEAM Network

2. Problem Of Practice
Over the course of three years, 5 Career and Technical Education High Schools were transformed into Career Academies. High turnover in both the Principal Supervisor and Executive Principal roles have impeded change. How can the turnover be mitigated to cohesively improve instruction?

3. District Contextual Information​
104 schools​
Current enrollment is approximately 39,000 students​​
100% of students qualify for free or reduced price lunch​​
Third year of implementation of school-based resource autonomies​

5. History and Context, Part 1
Fall 2014: Visit to the Academies of Nashville by Principal Supervisor and 5 Principals.
Spring 2015: Planning Begins and Academies Director is put in Place.
Fall of 2016: New Principal Supervisor put in Place. 2 New Principals join.
Spring 2016: 2 Principals and Academies Director Resign.
Summer 2016: Integrated Unit Training
Summer 2016: Principal Supervisor #2 Resigns.

6. History and Context, part 2
Early Fall 2016: After school year begins, New Principal Supervisory and Academies Direct Hired
Late Fall 2016: Joint Agreement with Union to have Integrated Units
Winter 2017: Principal Resignation
Winter of 2017: Integrated Unit Training, take 2

8. Connecting the Principals with the Vision
Step 1: Desired Future
Step 2: Current Reality
Step 3: Connecting the Desired Future to the Current Reality

9. The Desired Future High Performing Academically
Graduates can choose between entering the workforce as a trained, certified employee or attend college without remediation.
Connected to the Business Community with internship and externship opportunities for students and teachers.

10. The Reality of Academies

11. The Reality of Academies

12. The Reality of Academies
Strong resistance by staff to change with a heavy union presence
Limited engagement with the business community at 4 of the schools

13. Creating a Pathway to the Future
As a team, we determined:
Transform Teaching & Learning—We want to students connect their CTE coursework to the rest of the curriculum.
Transform Culture—We want each Academy to have its own Identity?
Transform Business Engagement—We want students and teachers working with the community.

14. Transforming Teaching & Learning First Steps
As a cohort, we agreed that integrated project based units would successfully connect CTE and the general curriculum
Partnered with PCG to provide intensive professional development to principals and staff.
Principals and Academy Leaders met in November and December with Union Leadership to develop a timeline and agree to unit planning.
All day PD to kick-off second semester.
Teachers met weekly to plan together along with Academy Leaders
Second Touch with PCG in March.
Month-long integrated Units for all Academies!

15. Transforming Teaching & Learning First Steps
Executive Principal and Academy Leader Expectations:
Attend Weekly Planning Meetings
Provide Feedback on Planning
Executive Principal Responsibility to the Community of Practice:
Bring Examples of Walkthrough Feedback
Are walkthroughs showing alignment to expectations?
How are teachers being coached to improve alignment?
Student Work Samples
Are tasks aligned to the standards and rigorous?
Is the student work meeting the standard?
Is the teacher feedback appropriate and designed to improve student performance?

16. Transforming Teaching & Learning Beginnings of Success
Integrated Unit Examples:
Washington Park School of Environmental Studies:
“How can you feed the world? “
Martin Luther King Jr Career Center:
“What are the effects of incarceration on the community?”
How does the relationship between the public and health & safety officials effect the greater community?
Garrett Morgan High School
“How can an irrigation garden help my community?

17. Transforming The Secondary School Experience
Agreed Upon Principles:
Teachers Instruct Only in One Academy in a School
Common Planning Time for Academy Teachers
Teacher Externships for both Core and CTE Teachers
Academies 101 Course for 9th graders
Multiple Exposures to On-site Career Experiences
College Credit Plus Opportunities for All
Career Certifications for All Students
Student Ambassadors

18. Transforming The Secondary School Experience: Beginning Successes
Garrett Morgan
Ambassadors assist with the monthly Market Day by distributing fresh produce to the community.
10th graders participated in the Fenn College of Engineering Academy Day
11th graders will participate in the summer internships at the water department.

19. Transforming The Secondary School Experience: Beginning Successes
Jane Addams Grille, a completely student run restaurant serves lunch 3 times a week.
Student run food truck scheduled to open next year

20. Transforming The Secondary School Experience: Beginning Successes
New and renewed Partnerships with University Hospital of Cleveland, Louis Stokes Veterans’ Administration and the Cleveland Clinic have led to internships for students and externships for teachers.

21. Transforming The Secondary School Experience: Beginning Successes
On-going visits have taken place for students in the Construction Pathway through the Pre-apprenticeship program.
Ten (10) students have been hired to work in the CMSD Bus Depot and twenty (20) Construction and Building Maintenance Students have been hired as a part of the CMSD Summer Facilities Internship Initiative.

22. Transforming The Secondary School Experience
All Sophomores took the admission exam for Tri-C. The results of the exam will be used to determine student eligibility for Dual Credit Options and/or enrichment.
Juniors from Washington Park will participate as interns for the Let's Move! Outside Environmental Service Learning Curriculum in collaboration with the YMCA.

23. Transforming Business & Civic Engagement
Agreed Upon Principles
Transformation Coordinators will serve as liaisons between the Academies and the Business Community
All Schools will have a Friends Board
Teacher Externships will provide concrete connections between the Business Community and the curriculum
Businesses will engage with students through:
Greater Cleveland Partnerships Sponsored Career Fairs for Freshman
Industry Sponsored Field Trips for Sophomores
Job Shadowing for Juniors
Internships for Seniors

24. Transforming Business & Civic Engagement First Steps
Coaching Principals
Utilization of the Transformation Coordinator
Ill-defined role when on-boarded
Widely varying skill sets across schools
Leveraging the Friends Board
Formation a struggle for some schools
Creating the right balance between input and informing
Using connections to create opportunities.

25. Transforming Business & Civic Engagement Beginning Successes
All Underclassman at every school participated in multiple career experiences
Transformation Coordinators have scheduled 60% of Seniors for next year into internships
All Schools have scheduled externships for teachers this summer.
All Schools have functioning Friends Boards.

26. Ongoing Challenges
Small School Sizes impede purity of teacher scheduling
Turnover in Academy Principals
Coaching Executive Principals on managing Union pushback on integrated units

27. Questions?