Superintendent intern CARE model

The internship activities have provided a wealth of opportunity to become more involved with district wide improvement initiatives.  Fortunately, last year my district made the decision to develop the district’s first official strategic plan.  Through my internship, I had the opportunity to be directly involved with many aspects of the strategic planning process.

In order to develop a board approved strategic plan for the district, a thorough analysis of the existing district improvement plan was conducted.  During this review, an outside consultant was brought in to assist the district in identifying areas for improvement.  From there, the group drafted goals and recommendations for improvement.

The budget crisis is one of the primary areas of concern facing Texas school districts.  During the internship I had the opportunity to lead an action planning committee that was charged with identifying alternative sources of funding to ensure fiscal responsibility.  We researched what other school districts are doing to bring in alternative funding, and made specific recommendations for the district.  For instance, the district has several large businesses which are a substantial contributor to the tax base.  These multi-million dollar businesses and corporations often have their own goals for partnering with local school districts to provide support.  Specific recommendations were made to reach out to local business partners to investigate potential funding sources.  We also researched initiatives such as school bus advertising and stadium sponsorships to identify areas where money could be generated for the district.

Another area that dramatically impacted the district was the increased performance standards for AYP.  Unfortunately, the district did not perform as well as expected.  As a result, I had the opportunity to meet with the district leadership team to brainstorm corrective actions to address this problem.  We immediately realized that each campus has a system for tracking student progress and data, but that we were remiss in analyzing data as a district.  We brainstormed a data tracking method that will be implemented each month to specifically track the progress of all LEP and Special Education students.  The goal is that by looking holistically at the data we will be able to prevent the district from being forced to move into school improvement.

Another area that was focused on throughout the internship and strategic planning process related to school and community relations.  The district is a rapid growing district where student demographics have changed dramatically over the past ten years.  As a result, school and community pride and involvement are lower than desired.  For instance, attendance at district events is minimal, and students do not have a strong sense of school pride.  The correlation to school pride was discussed in terms of how it impacts student achievement.  We recognize that students have to be intrinsically motivated to want to do their best, for themselves, their parents, their teachers, their school, and their community.  Specific goals were drafted to help re-build a strong school and community climate.  We want our students to be proud of their schools because we believe that creates a spirit of excellence and pride.