Set Big Goals and Create Systems to Achieve Them
Imagine being in a room of 10 children and their parents and asking the parents of those children which four should be the ones that learn to read. No teacher, parent, child or administrator would consider that an acceptable situation. Yet it was the effect of student achievement numbers that hovered near 40% in the early years of the district. A “war” was declared, attack units formed, and a 90% goal established.
Every school and all department personnel wrote mission and goal statements articulating how their work would support reaching the 90% goal for ALL students. Teachers created individual learning plans for students not achieving at grade level, progress was measured and reported. In addition, non-classroom staff aligned their work to promote student achievement, making adjustments along the way based on feedback from school leaders. Singular focus by a team on measurable goals achieves results. Before long, some Clovis Unified schools were reaching the 90% goal, and raising the bar even higher.
In more recent years, the Clovis Assessment System for Sustained Improvement (CLASSI) has continued to drive a similar degree of targeted attention on focus group achievement, ensuring the opportunity for success of all students.