County to pilot DPI’s new effort to improve schools |
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By FULLER ROYAL The Columbus County Schools is one of two North Carolina school systems selected by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (DPI) as a partner in a new effort to improve low-performing schools and school systems. All of the county schools’ teachers converged on the West Columbus High School auditorium Tuesday afternoon to hear representatives from DPI announce the project, which they hope will provide significant increases in students achievement during the next three years and provide a model for the remaining school systems in the state. Speaking to the gathered teachers were J.B. Buxton, the deputy superintendent of DPI and Robert Logan, the associate state superintendent for innovation and school transformation. “We’re not here to present to you a simplified quick fix,” Buxton said. “We want to look beyond test scores. We want to look beyond seeing schools as just a number.” Buxton said the partnership between DPI and the Columbus County Schools is not a new program or initiative, but a way to provide support tailored to the needs of the county. “How can we coordinate assistance to meet your needs,” he asked. He said that DPI has been using the same model to determine what kind of assistance to offer schools. That model was created when the state initiated the ABC’s of Education school accountability program in the mid-1990s. A grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation enabled DPI to spend six months studying ways to better support its schools, especially those with low test scores and graduation rates. “This is not the product of a late-night brainstorming session, “ he said. “This is something we took across the state.” He said that DPI wants to streamline itself and make it easier for schools to receive assistance. DPI wants to support and build upon the successes and leadership already in place. Buxton said DPI took its ideas on the road and met with school representatives across the state as well as people involved indirectly with education. “We wanted to know what was working and not working with the way we did assistance,” he said. Buxton said the change at DPI is a big shift in the way things have been done. “We want to hold ourselves accountable for this to work with you,” he said. “We want this to be customized to what you need, not just what Raleigh thinks is good for Columbus County.” Logan then addressed the teachers. “This framework is not something thought of before,” he said. “We haven’t found another state doing this type of work.” Logan said that other states are looking to North Carolina for answers on how to make their departments of public instruction work better with school systems. “There are no panaceas,” Logan said. “There are no silver bullets. We have to educate children the old fashioned way – a lot of work. “Are children different today?” Logan asked. “Yes and no. They come with different needs. They are media rich. They need attention, care and love and to be a part of something.” Logan said the new framework proposed by DPI is the core of support the state agency will provide the Columbus County Schools. He said it would be DPI’s goal to take the project statewide and someday see it as a national model. Logan pointed that the key objectives of the project were: •To leverage best practices, both nationally and internationally, to take the DPI assistance model to the next level. To streamline and aggregate the various DPI assistance efforts currently underway. •To build DPI and Columbus County Schools’ capacity to adapt to evolving school district and school needs. •To support Columbus County Schools in helping all students to graduate from high school ready for the 21st Century. Logan said that DPI would focus support efforts on assessing needs and understanding root causes; customizing support offerings that improve instruction, providing seamless and coordinated assistance to schools and districts and creating effective incentives and consequences for schools and districts. He said that DPI would providing support to districts and schools that included creating scalable solutions; intervening at areas and times of highest impact; pursuing sustainable solutions; rigorously monitoring, evaluating and measuring programs; offering customer focused service and building credibility and expanding the capabilities of DPI over time. Logan discussed the five parts of the new framework: theory of action, screening, assessment, support and monitoring. The new framework will concentrate more on the root causes of low student performance and what the districts capacities and strengths are. Two tools will be used by DPI to determine the course of action for the schools – a district needs assessment and a school needs assessment. “We want to find the root causes of why more children are not succeeding in school,” Logan said. “From these assessments, help will be customized to a school or district.” Logan said the major shift in emphasis by DPI is to give a school district the tools it needs to grow its capacity Next week, DPI representatives will begin interviewing the superintendent and his staff. In January, the staffs and faculties of West Columbus High, South Columbus High, Chadbourn Middle, Tabor City Middle, Chadbourn Elementary and Williams Township Elementary schools will be interviewed. DPI will also conduct classroom visits. Additional staff, paid for by DPI, will be brought on board for the next three years, including a regional support lead, district transformation coach, school transformation coaches, leadership coaches and instructional coaches. Lexington City Schools is the other system in the pilot program.
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