them…questions every month so they know…they are going to be responsible for writing a plan and for getting that plan implemented.” The most effective districts fully leveraged their plan monitor as a resource—not an adversary—who could help them gather and show evidence of progress and think about how to address areas in need of further improvement. One monitor described the “close and trusting relationship” he had formed with district staff. Ensure transparency throughout process. Effective districts focused on creating transparency by regularly reflecting on and communicating progress to key stakeholders. Some of these districts involved the district’s school committee, in particular, as an active partner in monitoring progress with respect to the AIP. Two districts organized full-day retreats for the superintendent and school committee members to jointly discuss and focus on the AIP, and the superintendent from another district invited school committee members to participate in school learning walks. Staff in several districts reported that since beginning the AIP process, their respective school committees have become better able to communicate with stakeholders and have begun to collaborate and work together toward common goals. One district administrator described using the public goals and increased accountability of the AIP to “drive the culture toward higher expectations” among all stakeholders, including parents and community members. Across the promising practices, two key themes emerged as critical to ensuring improvement efforts are effective and long-lasting: (1) At every stage of the process, stakeholders collaborated on and developed a plan to implement a lasting system of improvement that extended from the district level to schools and classrooms; and (2) Districts established practices to support continuous cycles of inquiry and improvement and provided relevant resources, allowing educators in these districts to actively support student success.
them…questions every month so they know…they are going to be responsible for writing a plan and for getting that plan implemented.” The most effective districts fully leveraged their plan monitor as a resource—not an adversary—who could help them gather and show evidence of progress and think about how to address areas in need of further improvement. One monitor described the “close and trusting relationship” he had formed with district staff. Ensure transparency throughout process. Effective districts focused on creating transparency by regularly reflecting on and communicating progress to key stakeholders. Some of these districts involved the district’s school committee, in particular, as an active partner in monitoring progress with respect to the AIP. Two districts organized full-day retreats for the superintendent and school committee members to jointly discuss and focus on the AIP, and the superintendent from another district invited school committee members to participate in school learning walks. Staff in several districts reported that since beginning the AIP process, their respective school committees have become better able to communicate with stakeholders and have begun to collaborate and work together toward common goals. One district administrator described using the public goals and increased accountability of the AIP to “drive the culture toward higher expectations” among all stakeholders, including parents and community members. Across the promising practices, two key themes emerged as critical to ensuring improvement efforts are effective and long-lasting: (1) At every stage of the process, stakeholders collaborated on and developed a plan to implement a lasting system of improvement that extended from the district level to schools and classrooms; and (2) Districts established practices to support continuous cycles of inquiry and improvement and provided relevant resources, allowing educators in these districts to actively support student success.
05AIP-Evaluation.docx