January 1, 2014
As we strive to create a high quality and enduring education system recognized for excellence, we must ensure our organization structure supports our objectives. Our second major strategy from our Master Education Plan, Organize for Success, reminds us to analyze our structure and ensure that our resources are always focused on our academic goals and objectives. Failing to do so risks spending resources (personnel, time or money) in areas that have a lower return on academic investment.
The main challenge we face is creating a structure that provides 6 critical capabilities: 1) Teacher Induction; 2) Teacher Coaching and Development; 3) Curriculum Development, Alignment and Review; 4) Assessment (state testing, formative, and summative); 5) Multi-tiered Intervention and Support Systems (MTSS); and, 6) Gifted and Talented. To be successful, these capabilities must be instilled with a high level of quality and fidelity, and they must also be financially sustainable over at least a 5-year projection.
Last month, we began discussions on how to institutionalize these capabilities, and gradually expanded the conversation this month to our District Accountability Committee (DAC), Teacher Communication Committee (TCC) and the Building Accountability Committees (BAC). These main communication structures and committees will help us develop 2-3 viable solutions to achieve our goals. Around the end of January, we will present these ideas to the community for discussion through a series of meetings across the district. By March, we will propose a new organizational structure that will meet our long-term education needs.
Throughout this process, we will ground our discussions and decisions in solid research and successful models. The DAC/BAC website will be continually updated with a variety of research on topics such as school consolidation, reduction in force policy, and effective school budgeting. Please join us in our efforts to take our schools from Good to Gold by participating in this discussion and understanding the research.
Todd Lancaster, Superintendent