Winter 2017 Official Magazine of the Michigan Association of School Administrators

ST. JOHNS PUBLIC SCHOOLS:

Putting the AG in EngAGement

Page 16

MASA

6 MASA LEADER | Winter 2017

DEPARTMENTS8 from the MASA ExEcutivE DirEctor

9 from the MASA PrEsiDEnt

30 Leader Digital Features Explore bonus content at gomasa.org/leader

30 Index to Advertisers

FEATURES

ON THE COVER: St. Johns Superintendent Dr. Dedrick Martin spends time interacting with students in a science class at St. Johns Middle School. COVER PHOTO BY MITCH SMITH

MASAWINTER 2017

Official Magazine of the Michigan Association

of School Administrators

Contents

16 Putting the AG in Student EngAGement

14 The Power of Mentoring

27 Alternative Education Reinvented

25 Working with Your Board to Impact Student Achievement

20 Learning the Basics of Data Breaches

22 The Art of Successful Strategic Planning

10 Innovation Irony

from theMASA ExEcutivE DirEctor

CHRIS WIGENT

DESPITE WHAT SOME OF OUR critics try to tell everyone on a daily basis, quality innovation is alive

and well in public education in the state of Michigan! I think we would all agree that while we are not always the best at letting the public know about the great things we are doing (although we are getting much better), there are many media distractions that also prevent the word from getting out to the public. At the MASA Midwinter Conference in January, six of our colleagues took to the stage and provided us with 10-minute “MASA ED Talks.” During each of these talks, we heard of some fantastic innovations currently taking place in school districts and regions throughout our state. Whether it is Math in the Mail, the Reading Now Network, restorative practices, educational leadership books, powering through challenges, or examining unintended consequences of schools of choice programs, superintendents from around the state proved once again that they are leading in a progressive manner, and that improvements in student achievement are taking place because of that leadership. What we saw at the conference was only a snapshot of what is going on throughout Michigan. During my two years of serving as

the MASA Executive Director, I have traveled all around the state to visit many superintendents in their districts. During those visits, I have heard about and seen firsthand some extremely impressive innovations that are taking place in districts that are large, small, and every size in between. Some of this work is a match with specific community wants or needs and might not be relevant in every single school district. However, for the most part, what is happening in one district could easily be replicated elsewhere, and the quality models are already in place to facilitate that replication. As we continue to move forward to become a Top 10 in 10 state in public education, we can and should learn so much more from each other. MASA will continue to work hard to provide opportunities for this type of innovation sharing. Whether it is through an ED Talk or just an informal discussion at a region or statewide meeting, let’s all commit to being open about what is working (and what is not) and learning from our extremely talented colleagues. Innovation in public education is truly alive and well, and should not be a secret. Furthermore, we should all take advantage of the learning opportunities that occur when we work together.

Education Innovation:Alive and Well in Michigan!MASA

1001 Centennial WaySuite 300

Lansing, MI 48917-9279Ph. 517.327.5910

gomasa.org

Board of DirectorsSue C. Carnell

president

Michele Lemirepresident-elect

DIRECTORS

Yvonne Caamal-CanulDr. Steve Matthews

Dr. Brian MetcalfDr. Kathy Stewart

Dave Tebo

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Chris Wigent

EditorsCathy Bacile Cunningham

Philip Marrah

Mitch Smith

Contribute to the MASA Leader

Do you have news or information to share with members that’s interesting, useful, or

just plain fun? The staff of the MASA Leader

invites you to contribute. Please contact MASA at

571.327.5910.

8 MASA LEADER | Winter 2017

View the MASA ED Talks online at vimeo.com/groups/edtalks.

AS WITH ANY CHANGE, AS WE begin a new era of federal administra-tion, we are concerned about the

challenges that lay ahead. It has been said that challenges bring opportunities. These opportu-nities are a chance to think innovatively to bring about the changes we want to see and deliver on the promise of meeting the needs of all students. Here are some examples of innovative thinking in Michigan districts: According to the Citizens Research Council, approximately two-thirds of public schools across the state faced declining enrollment from 2012-13 to 2013-14. Superintendents look for innovative ways to recruit and retain students and/or to reduce expenditures. Hamilton Community Schools is proud of the work they have done to share services with the ISD and other local districts. From a shared business services team to technology support and a special education director, they have decreased costs while providing increased services and support. Districts across the state are working every day to personalize learning experiences for students. In an attempt to foster a growth mindset, districts like Fraser and Kenowa Hills are using a competency-based model to address time and expand the opportunities afforded to their students. Districts like Swartz Creek and Hamilton are using standards-based grading to provide more specific and individualized feedback for students. Models like these allow teachers to give specific content- and skills-

based feedback to students. This provides a way to address the either/or arguments of content or skills using an “and” model, providing feedback on both specifically or combining them into larger competencies. Another promising collaborative model can be found on the west side of the state. Talent 2025 is group of business leaders from 13 counties who have partnered with educational stakeholders to build empathy, deepen understanding and create a think space for education and business to support each other. This unique partnership could serve as a model for other regions as we find common ground in developing skills sets and accentuating talent in all of our young people. More information on Talent 2025 and the K-12 work group can be found at www.talent2025.org/k-12-education. The districts, like many others in Ottawa and Kent counties, have partnered with businesses to provide learning opportunities and experiences for our students, giving authenticity to the curriculum and supporting our business, non-profit and governmental agencies in the process. We can find win-win opportunities, create engaging learning environments and meet accountability measures when we work together inside our communities. We can develop talent, nurture skills and assure the next generation of young people are ready to lead and learn when we work together to meet the needs of all students.

Sue C. Carnell is Superintendent at the Westwood Community School District. She can be reached at 313.565.3864 or carnells@wwschools.net.

from theMASA 2016-17 PrEsiDEnt

SUE C. CARNELL

Thinking InnovativelyA joint message from MASA President Sue C. Carnell and Hamilton Community Schools Superintendent Dave Tebo published by

Apogee Publications6528 Greenleaf Avenue

Suite 219Whittier, CA 90601

562.698.3424

PublishErMel Sturr

salEs managErKathleen Pishotta

888.371.4933

salEs rEPrEsEntativEsBren Born

Shirley LawrenceDejah Reno

EDitorNicole Millman-Falk

art DirEctorAude Cabaldon

DISCLAIMER: The author(s) listed for each article is solely respon-sible for the content of items submitted. The information and opinions do not necessarily repre-sent the views or opinions of the directors, officers, editors or staff members of MASA. Further, the directors, officers, editors or staff members of MASA assume no re-sponsibility nor accept liability for the content of any article printed in the MASA Leader magazine or in the MASA Leader posted on the MASA website (except for those they author) nor any errors or omissions in submitted materi-als that may apply.

All rights reserved. Please contact MASA for permission to reprint or distribute information in this issue.

PUBLISHED Winter 2017

Sue C. Carnell, President Dave Tebo, Director

gomasa.org 9

PERHAPS THE PROUDEST MOMENTS FOR any organizational leader tend to focus on the significant innovations that have made a positive impact on quantitative or qualitative outcomes. Nowhere is this more

true than in our present era of public education, where perennially constrained finances clash with

relentlessly increasing expectations to make innovation a matter of survival.

Whether on the instructional, operational, or financial

front, superintendents must courageously and continually challenge assumptions and reframe problems in the never-ending quest to do more with less. Although each innovation will be met with

varying degrees of success, it is particularly satisfying to stay

ahead of the curve despite a general misperception from outside the field

that education is static and intransigent. Like the vast majority of school districts,

Bloomfield Hills School has sought to unleash the creative passion of individuals and teams to spark innovative programs. However, with careers hinging on high-stakes assessments coupled with tightly prescribed evaluation protocols, it is no small task for a district to sustain the kind of adventurous mindset required to fuel innovative thinking. By developing in 2012 a framework of 10 Guiding Principles upon which to anchor innovative concepts, our staff have subsequently been able to coalesce around a powerful set of beliefs that have provided some important room to innovate. Looking back, I never imagined how important a foundation our 10 Guiding Principles would prove to be. Beyond granting permission, they provided a common language for shared collegial dialogue that began framing a cultural expectation within our organization for an innovative, constructivist learning experience. Over time, the Guiding Principles became a sort of standard by which ideas at all levels of the district were compared. These ideals not only validated innovative programs already in place, but informed the development of new ideas at all levels of the system. Significant innovations in course structures, grading practices, disciplinary integration, technology integration and IN

NO

VATI

VEIR

ON

Yb y D R . R O B G L A S S

10 MASA LEADER | Winter 2017

gomasa.org 11

12 MASA LEADER | Winter 2017

learning spaces began to progress steadily throughout the district. Perhaps the most noticeable changes occurred through the process of consolidating two high schools on one campus featuring a learning community model for grades 9 and 10. Imperative and rewarding though an innovative culture may be, educational leaders know by ex-perience that all is not sunshine and roses. Much like Newton’s Third Law stating that “every action has an equal and opposite reaction,” each well-intended innovation must necessarily impose some level of change that will affect the present system. The more ambitious and systemic the innovation, the more a leader must be prepared to tend to the people and processes destined to be affected in unanticipated ways.

Hence, innovators find themselves facing the ironic reality that a desired, planned change (the innovation) creates some level of unplanned, unwanted, unpredictable change to which they must respond—presumably in an innovative fashion! Whether in the planning, implementation or operational phase of any innovation, the art of leadership calls for a careful balancing of human needs and organizational imperatives. In navigating such innovative irony, we do well to ground ourselves in the firm conviction that relationships are the bedrock of human development and effective educational systems. Should we ever lose sight of the preeminence of relationships, it won’t matter how many programs we develop, how many eBooks we

purchase or how many VR experi-ences we have. The rate of change in society beckons us to innovate for innovation’s sake, but we must inno-vate for learning’s sake. If we obsess over keeping pace with the evolution around us, we may miss out on our own. When our teachers work within a system that supports innovation and meaningful relationships, and when our students are empowered to inquire deeply and collaborate freely, we have then created the conditions to prepare our students for what lies ahead—whatever that may be.

Dr. Rob Glass is super-intendent of Bloomfield Hills Schools and the MASA 2017 Super-

intendent of the Year. Contact him at rglass@bloomfield.org.

gomasa.org 13

14 MASA LEADER | Winter 2017

IN BOTH KALAMAZOO PUBLIC SCHOOLS (KPS) and the broader Kalamazoo community, we’ve had a number of successes over the last several years. In addition to the Kalamazoo Promise, ris-

ing enrollment, and the construction of our first new schools in more than a third of a century, we created a dual-language school, an alternative middle school and an alternative high school; gained national Montessori accreditation for our public Montessori school; and de-

veloped Lift Up Through Literacy parent education and family literacy programs throughout the community. Most importantly, we’ve also improved every major academic indicator over the last several years: reading, math, writing, Advanced Placement (AP) participation and success, high school graduation rates, college-going rates, college continuation rates, and college graduation rates. In eight years, we’ve increased the number of chil-dren taking AP courses by 136 percent and the number of AP courses that they take by 197 percent. Traditionally un-derrepresented groups of students—economically disad-vantaged, African American, and Latino—have increased the percentage of AP courses that they have taken by 281

BY Michael F. Rice, Ph.D.

THE POWER OF MENTORING:

ONE RECENT SUPPORT FOR KPS CHILDREN STANDS OUT

ABOVE THE REST

Leader Digital FeatureCulturally Responsive Training Provides a New Way to Look at Students, Education in KPS. Read more at gomasa.org/leader.

gomasa.org 15

percent, 225 percent, and 613 percent, respectively. With concentrations of poverty in many of our schools rivaling those in the poorest urban communities in the state, we know that we have a lot more work to do in the 12th largest district in the state. Yet the progress is clearly apparent, across the district and across the community. That said, across the country, female students outperform male students in all ethnic groups. This pattern is particularly stark among African-American students, but exists for Latino, white, and Asian-American students, as well. KPS is no exception to this phenomenon of student achievement lower among African-American male students than among other demographic groups. In the late summer of 2015, we decided to start a new program to address this challenge: the weekly mentoring of our young men, and particularly our young men of color. I challenged first my male administrators and then my male staff members to join me in mentoring five young men in a group once a week. In total, 140 male staff members answered my call and mentored 629 young men in 2,822 weekly mentoring sessions during the year, from Novem-ber through June. Western Michigan University (WMU) professors Dr. Joseph Morris and Dr. Mary Z. Anderson evaluated the program at the end of the school year and provided positive feedback. Based on the strong WMU evaluation, we expanded the mentoring program this year to include 269 female staff members mentoring our young ladies. We also expanded to the community and are working with five churches and their male parishioners who want to mentor our young men. We anticipate expansion to female community members mentoring our young ladies next year.

We focus our weekly mentoring sessions on children’s dreams, careers, goals and aspirations. We seek to do two things with our mentoring:

1. Pour into our children in small groups led by a staff member or community member and to show our kids that we care about them.

2. Help children create paths from where they are to where they want to go in their lives.

Importantly, we share with students that, virtually without exception, the routes to whatever dream or dreams they have for their lives are paved in good measure with the education—the knowledge, skills and abilities—that they develop and hone in schools. In my 15 years as an urban superintendent, the week-ly mentoring is one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had. It reminds me of my early-career teaching and coaching, when I got “eye level” with individual students or small groups of students daily. I am fortunate to mentor young men at our alternative high school with Gary Start, the KPS deputy superintendent for business, communica-tions, and operations. We contribute to some degree to their development and, to be fair, they contribute to ours, as well. By the end of the year, we expect to have between 450 and 500 mentors who weekly mentor some 2,000 students. Mentoring isn’t a panacea. It won’t cure poverty. It won’t cure underfunding. It won’t cure racism. It won’t cure illiteracy. But it’s a significant factor for a number of our young people who grow up feeling underappreciated or unappreciated. There is no more important aspect of our work than showing children that we care. Mentoring makes this possible, little by little, step by step.

Michael F. Rice, Ph.D., is superintendent of Kalamazoo Public Schools and the MASA 2016 Superintendent of the Year. Contact him at ricemf@kalamazoopublicschools.net.

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“ We contribute to some degree to their development and, to be fair, they contribute to ours, as well.”

16 MASA LEADER | Winter 2017

AMAZING THINGS can happen when a university’s teacher preparation program and a local public

school district look to each other for an innovative way to drive relevant student engagement and give real-world teaching experience to student teachers. Central Michigan University’s College of Education and St. Johns Public Schools have created a unique hybrid that incorporates an agricultural focus to a new STEM school within its walls. Dr. Dedrick Martin, superintendent of St. Johns Public Schools, recognized the potential of creating a new model for a STEM

school in his district, one that would utilize the current partnership with CMU. Thus was born the concept of a lab school with a major focus on agriculture. Martin remembers how the discussion began. “CMU, at that time, said they didn’t know much about agriculture, but they did know about teaching and learning,” he said. “I countered that we know how to do STEM-education style programs, so let’s try it. CMU wouldn’t have to worry about the lack of knowledge regarding ag—I was sure that our community would step up to fill that knowledge gap.” Martin’s confidence in the

community is directly related to his continued efforts to build a strong connection to the community. The understanding of his district’s strong ties to agriculture came when he took over as the leader of the rural district and worked hard to learn more about the St. Johns community. He really listened and looked at what resources his community had to offer the school district—resources that he learned about from various community organization meetings that he made an effort to attend. “Until I took over in St. Johns, I had never heard the term ‘agronomist.’ I never knew that a person could make six figures

PUTTING THE AG INSTUDENT ENGAGEMENT

ST. JOHNS PUBLIC SCHOOLS

b y M i t c h S m i t h

INNOVATION1. The act of innovating 2. Something as a method or product, newly

introduced3. To begin or introduce (something new)4. To be creative source: American Heritage Dictionary, Second College Edition

gomasa.org 17

studying dirt,” he chuckled. “I didn’t think about how rural communities develop and grow, take up land space, and the challenges farmers face to produce enough food for a world more populated, on less available farmable land.” Involving the school district in the real-world issues that its community members dealt with daily was an opportunity to create relevant learning for its students. Solving those problems takes high-level science, and it was being developed right in the district’s backyard at Agro Liquid, a worldwide company headquartered in St. Johns. “They have a physicist, a state-of-the-art lab, brilliant knowledge base, even a museum,” Martin said. “All in a building in little old St. Johns.” The local Farm Bureau, other ag-related corporations, and the many local and diverse farming operations surrounding this community are all coming to the table to work with the school system and CMU’s teaching programs to build together what a

STEM school with an agriculture focus should look like. “This has become a unique collaboration,” Martin said. “We now have educators talking and teaching about agriculture, often outside their teaching discipline, yet focused on creating that space for kids to experience a higher level of learning and unique access to the wealth of knowledge that surrounds them.” Gateway Elementary kindergarten teacher DJ Logan is developing a school-wide fruit and vegetable garden, with each grade level taking on specific responsibilities to plant, maintain and harvest produce—each task linked to appropriate content standards for that grade. Through grants, she will be able purchase raised garden beds, a small greenhouse and hand tools. Other supplies, including screened soil, fertilizer, and seeds to support the garden, have been donated by local businesses. What St. Johns is creating is unique in education programs, where concepts in science,

18 MASA LEADER | Winter 2017

technology, engineering and math are being introduced with an agricultural focus. “I believe we may be the first ag-STEM lab school in the state of Michigan, and there is no model for us to follow,” Martin said. Support for the program has taken many different directions to offer teaching opportunities. The local Farm Bureau, a community partner, stepped up and provided a scholarship opportunity for two teachers to travel to an out-of-state agriculture conference. While on the trip, the teachers had the opportunity to visit a K-8 school with an ag-STEM focus, where they could learn from a district doing similar work to what St. Johns is doing. “CMU also supported an administrator and several teachers with the opportunity and responsibility of presenting our endeavors at a national professional

development school conference,” Martin said. “Our community partners have recognized this program’s value and the unique collaboration they are a part of.” St. Johns’ ag-STEM lab school

has the added benefit for CMU of allowing for the placement of more student teachers and pre-service teachers in the district. The STEM school is an important professional development school for the

gomasa.org 19

university and this opens up new opportunities. One such opportunity is the benefit of CMU sending out a professor once a week to access classroom activities and provide the district with an ongoing source of professional development for the teachers. “The ongoing and real dialogue about what is happening in the classrooms between the CMU pro-fessors and our teachers, between pre-service teachers and student teachers, is powerful,” Martin said. “That dialogue is then taken back to the university, where they can dis-cuss what worked and what didn’t work.” The partnership has become a two-way street in building an exciting, new learning platform for the district and the university. The program has opened up classroom opportunities for

community members as well. Every teacher is paired up with a local farmer who can provide the resource of real-world knowledge about how mathematics and science is applied to growing food. Field trips have now become agriculture focused, yet aligned with the Michigan Merit Curriculum. “We also identified that our math scores were an area where we were weakest, and a well-respected professor came out to the district to align the teaching in an effort to try and improve those math scores,” Martin said. “So our first year was math focused in the lab school. Now we are looking at expanding by adding a science focus.” “It has opened up hundreds of teaching lesson plans that our teachers didn’t have to create out of thin air,” Martin said. “We feel that we have created a real, collaborative

partnership that is really starting to expand.” Martin added: “More importantly, it is getting people to talk about the right things, and that is the instructional process. Talking about how we can do a better job for our kids academically and what we do for our teachers so they are more comfortable changing and adapting their practices to serve the needs of the student.” And creating a future generation of scientists, innovators and experts that will help feed an ever-growing population with fewer resources is an effort worth making.

Mitch Smith is a communications specialist for MASA. Contact him at

517.327.9244 or mitchsmith@gomasa.org.

HE ONLY THING CONSTANT about technology is that it’s always changing. We rely heavily on computers to complete day-to-day tasks such as paying our bills, communicating with others, and storing photos and personal information. Virtually everything is done online or through a cloud platform. School districts house a large amount of data. A lot of that information is considered sensitive or personally identifiable information such as Social Security numbers, account numbers or medical records. In today’s changing realm of technology, it’s more important than ever to understand the basics of data breaches, the threats they pose and how to guard your district against them.

What is a data breach? A data breach is the unauthorized exposure of personally identifiable information that can be used for fraud. Data breaches can happen through loss or theft of personal items, hacking, accidentally posting information on a nonsecure website and not shredding important physical documents.

DATA BREACHES

LEARNING THE

BASICSOF

T

TO PROTECT YOUR DISTRICT

b yTRAVISVAN TIGHEM,SET SEG

gomasa.org 21

What are the most common data breaches schools face? Some of the most common examples schools face are improper disposal of sensitive documents, system access and theft. Lately, many school districts are focusing their concerns on online attacks, but they should still be mindful of breaches caused by human error. This could be as simple as a teacher publishing grades publicly or someone using scrap paper found in recycling that had sensitive information on it.

If a data breach happens in my district, what should I do? If you believe a breach has occurred, your district should notify its insurance carrier immediately. Once the carrier is notified, a data forensics review will take place to

determine how the breach occurred, and if and how many individuals were impacted. Legal requirements for responses to data breaches vary by state. In Michigan, a school district would be required to notify affected individuals and provide them with one year of an identity theft protection service.

How can I safeguard against data breaches? Every district should practice the following security measures:

• Train employees in the district’s security policies.

• Ensure secure information is encrypted.

• Implement proper security measures, such as locking doors to rooms with computers that

house sensitive information;• Destroy sensitive documents

before disposal. • Continually update security

software.

Additionally, it’s important to ensure your district has adequate insurance coverage in the event of a data breach. Your policy should cover items such as response expenses, de-fense expenses and liability expenses. It is our priority to keep you informed of data breaches and cyber security solutions so you can protect your dis-trict from being attacked.

Travis Van Tighem is the senior property/casualty & workers’ compensation sales &

development specialist at SET SEG. Contact him at tvantighem@setseg.org.

NEARLY EVERY EDUCATIONAL leader has been involved in strategic planning at one time or another, serving in different roles. Your own

experiences may include:

• Being a survey respondent.• Serving on a focus group.• Providing direction as part of the

leadership team.• Leading the work as a superintendent.

Regardless of your role and personal experiences with the process, everyone has

thoughts about strategic planning and what they like or would like to see improved. There are also many opinions on the purpose of strategic planning. Here are a few:

• It is a process to engage community members as stakeholders and empower them to help develop or refine the mission and vision for the district. This is most often heard from school boards.

• It is the chance to gain the trust of the community and be visible throughout the process. This is what new superintendents tell me.

THE ART OF SUCCESSFUL STRATEGIC PLANNING

BY Dr. BOBBY MOORE

22 MASA LEADER | Winter 2017

gomasa.org 23

• It’s an opportunity to get the board of education involved early and often so that the superintendent and team can develop strategies to deliver on district goals and objectives. I most often hear this from community members and parents.

The truth is, it’s probably all of the above and even more. I remember my first attempt at strategic planning as a new superintendent. I engaged the board around refining our vision, our core values, and establishing lofty goals and metrics for the district. We also identified the high-performing districts to benchmark against in our educational journey. Next, our assistant superinten-dent and I closed the door and de-veloped a specific, targeted, and tac-tical plan to address our deficiencies and build off our strengths. It paid off. Two years later, the district had received the highest achievement rating in the state and moved from near the bottom to a top-performing district in the county. We were (and

still are) the only county school to ever receive Ohio’s Excellent with Distinction rating and moved from the bottom 50% for student growth to the top 4% in the state. As evidenced above, our homegrown strategic planning process accelerated and maximized student learning. But we also faced challenges, including:

• Not engaging more stakeholders at the beginning of and during

the implementation process.• Lacking a strong

communications plan to accompany the work.

• Enlisting staff in developing the plan and metrics.

For these reasons, our work to implement the plan was much more challenging than it needed to be. As the old African proverb says, “If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” The strategic planning process is more than just having a plan. It’s about bringing the plan to life by collaborating with a variety of stake-holders, having an inspired launch, and supporting and empowering teams with systems, structures, and tools to sustain its impact. For the last five years, I have had the opportunity to work with an amazing communications team and a group that specializes in data and metrics at Battelle for Kids. Together, we have built a business-education hybrid approach to strategic planning that includes six phases. (See Figure 1 above.)

Figure 1.

The strategic planning process is more than just having a plan. It’s about bringing the plan to life by collaborating with a variety of stakeholders, having an inspired launch, and supporting and empowering teams with systems, structures, and tools to sustain its impact.

24 MASA LEADER | Winter 2017

What’s interesting about this new way of strategic planning? It takes a special team with specific strengths to deliver on such a comprehensive approach, with expertise around the table in communications, collaboration, educational leadership, design and branding, and metrics. Many times, districts work with vendors who deliver strategic planning in a very formulaic way. Our comprehensive approach allows

us to meet our districts wherever they may be in the process, either just starting out, needing communications and/or branding support, identifying metrics, or to launch. (See Figure 2.) As you begin to think about your own strategic planning process, it’s important to:

• Consider using a partner and engaging as many stakeholders as possible.

• Include an operational support component where specific actions, behaviors, and assign-ments are developed along with the measures of success.

I hope sharing my ear-ly mistakes will make your strategic planning process even more impactful and successful.

Dr. Bobby Moore is a se-nior director at Battelle for Kids, MASA’s stra-tegic planning and com-

munications partner. He has spent more than 25 years in education as a teacher, principal and superintendent. Contact him at bmoore@battelleforkids.org. Follow him on Twitter at @DrBobbyMoore.

Figure 2.

gomasa.org 25

IT’S NO SECRET THAT AN EFFECTIVE BOARD/SUPERINTENDENT RELATIONSHIP POSITIVELY IMPACTS student achievement. Ensuring your board members are effective at the board table will also help to pay dividends. The National School Boards Association’s Center for Public Education found that effective school boards possess eight traits. They:

HOW CAN YOU WORK EFFECTIVELY WITH YOUR BOARD TO POSITIVELY

IMPACTSTUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

• Commit to a vision of high expectations for student achievement and quality instruction;

• Have strong, shared beliefs and values about what is possible for students and their ability to learn, and of the system and its ability to teach all children at high levels;

• Are accountability driven;• Have a collaborative relationship

with staff and the community;• Are data savvy, embracing and

monitoring data even when negative;

• Align and sustain resources to meet district goals;

• Lead as a united team with the superintendent;

• Take part in team development and training.

They seem simple enough, but the implementation and commitment to adhering to these traits is what makes the process difficult. Superintendents need to be a part of the process to help

ensure board members are committed to these actions. In a workshop at MASA’s 2015 Annual Fall Conference, superintendents shared their ideas with us to work on the eight traits, and how they can get board members to more closely adhere to them. The majority of their ideas focus on improving board/superintendent relationships. Communication is key, whether it’s assuring resource allocation to achieve goals; establishing strategies

by DON WOTRUBA, CAE

26 MASA LEADER | Winter 2017

for planning and systems thinking; creating thorough, structured agendas to remain focused on student achievement; using data to

help inform decision-making; and more.

When board members and superintendents understand their roles and stay in their lanes, student achievement will most likely improve. Forming a cohesive team is often what leads to success. When boards and superintendents have a shared vision, develop mutual trust, and work together to create individual and district goals, the district is likely to flourish. It’s when we don’t have a plan and we don’t find a way to work

together that our students and our community suffer. This is the most crucial of all relationships in a school district. The board and superintendent must work together to model a shared commitment to higher standards. The ability to discuss difficult topics professionally, and the belief that continuous improvement is necessary for students to succeed is invaluable, according to the NSBA’s The Key Work of School Boards (2015). Committing to a vision and a plan where everyone knows their role and works to fulfill it will help to create stronger districts and better learning experiences for students.

Don Wotruba, CAE, is executive director of the Michigan Association of School Boards. Contact

him at dwotruba@masb.org.

“ When boards and superintendents have a shared vision, develop mutual trust, and work together to create individual and district goals, the district is likely to flourish. ”

Keyleh11th grader who hopes to be an athletic trainer one day“The opportunities offered me because of participation in this program helped me identify what I want to do in the future. Also,

the one-on-one and self-monitored approach fit my learning style and helps me be successful in my school work.”

WHAT STUDENTS SAY ABOUT THE PROGRAM:

JakeFirst year in the program

“The program will give me a good enough education and skills

to get a good job. The teachers explain how the skills we are

learning in school can apply to the working world. The field trips are informative and helpful in deciding a career path. The future holds for

me the possibility of becoming a lawyer or other good paying job.”

ChrisSenior“I had a lot of anxiety in my previous school and I wasn’t succeeding there. This program has put me back on track to graduate on time. A lot of my

classmates are just kids like me who struggled with traditional high school. The variety of opportunities such as field trips, job shadowing and internship not offered at a traditional high school offer me a great opportunity to network in the field.”

“L EARNING THAT WORKS” IS THE primary idea behind the Western Career Prep High School (WCPHS), a building that is using new concepts

to deliver education to students involved in alternative education. For years, Western School District (WSD) in Jackson County has had an alternative education program for its high school students. But the question remained for Western’s Superintendent Mike Smajda and his staff: How can the district make the program better for the students? Smajda and his staff wanted to be sure that the courses offered at WCPHS provided students with a meaningful experience and a quality education that set them up to succeed after graduation. Many of the students attending the alternative high school have no plans to go on to college. College-bound or not, career exploration and preparation programs in high school better prepare these students for success, both academically and in life. “The principal and I sat down with the school’s staff and asked them ‘What can we do to make that day after a student’s graduation significant, important and meaningful for these kids?’” Smajda said. Smajda believes the role of WCPHS is to prepare students so they have the necessary academic, technical and work behavior skills to enter, compete and advance in education and in their careers. WSD looked at the Michigan Merit Curriculum, as well as the electives being offered to students, with a critical focus on making them relevant to the students. Staff developed more focused core programs and more meaningful electives aimed at developing employability and related soft skills. Electives became career-prep focused, with offerings such as first aid, leadership and career pathways – skills that area businesses said they were looking for in employees.

b y M i t c h S m i t h

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ALTERNATIVE EDUCATIONREINVENTED

28 MASA LEADER | Winter 2017

“Turning the staff loose on this development was exciting,” said Irene Ellison LeCrone, coordinator with the Jackson County Cradle to Career Educator Network. “They recognized that the students need soft skills, job interviewing skills, resume-writing skills. They need work experiences out on jobs, and students need to tour manufacturing, health care and retail facilities.” Jared Vickers, principal of WCPHS, recalls the process of shaping this alternative school. “We were getting those students their diploma, but the day after they received their diploma they were on their own,” Vickers said. “We want to get them to graduation, but have a plan for the day after. We want to help them to find a career pathway that they are passionate about while they are still in school.” “A lot of students struggle with role models, self-esteem, immaturity and self-control issues,” said math teacher Debbie Sorensen. “They just need more practice as an adult. We as teachers act as role models and motivators to help get them through high school.” About the same time WSD was revamping its alternative high school programs, business owners in the community expressed their concerns with the present workforce.

“Local employers are frustrated by a skills gap,” said Bill Rayl, president and executive director of the Jackson Area Manufacturers Association. “Businesses have jobs to fill, but are finding many local residents do not have the skills necessary to fill the jobs. Employers benefit from secondary school career prep programs because it increases the pool of qualified applicants to fill their job openings.” With businesses struggling to find workers, Smajda added a career coordinator, Christie Cottingham, to the school to further partner with community businesses. Cottingham believes getting the students out into the community to see what is available is important. “They don’t know what they don’t know,” she said on the importance of getting students exposure to the opportunities for local employment after graduation. Smajda references a study that showed children from a lower socio-economic status don’t know about the living wage jobs that exist in their own community. This is an important area that WSD wanted to assist with. “We want kids to be aware when they graduate from Western that there are jobs in their community, whether they have a high school degree, you have some training

gomasa.org 29

or education beyond the normal high school experience,” Smajda said. Jackson Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Mindy Bradish-Orta says that businesses need to engage early and consistently to develop relationships with both the education system and the students so they can provide opportunities and mentors. “Business expects new hires to have certain basic skills and understanding, such as the importance of arriving to work on time, appropriate dress and language,” Bradish-Orta said. “The Jackson community businesses support the WCPHS,” she said. “Businesses offer tours, donate items for rewarding students, speak to classrooms, mentor stu-dents, offer advanced learning opportunities for teachers, provide internships and even financially support innova-tive district programs.” WCPHS has transformed the traditional high school ex-perience, especially those involving an alternative program. It is showcasing how education and industry can partner to prepare the next generation of workers, even potential indus-try leaders, through offering real life, hands-on experience. To that end, students are required to do an internship at an area business to graduate. The school works to place stu-

dents in internships, where they can do concrete flatwork, work in the healthcare industry, manufacture products in an electronics plant and more, giving students the opportunity to experience what it feels like to have a career-oriented job. The employers, in turn, give feedback to the career coordina-tor about whether the employee arrived on time for work, dressed appropriately and respected others in the work place, noting whether the employee needed to work on those skills. “We have a long way to go,” continued Smajda, “We are trying to break the stigma of students that are consid-ered being in an alternative education environment, where the ‘bad kids’ go. WCPHS is trying to show the community that alternative education is a different way for kids to learn. That it is a meaningful experience that leaves them with something they can be proud of.” “This path can be a choice, and not a last refuge to complete a high school education,” he said.

Mitch Smith is a communications specialist for MASA. Contact him at 517.327.9244 or mitchsmith@gomasa.org.

30 MASA LEADER | Winter 2017

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Index to Advertisers

LEADER Digital FeaturesExplore bonus content online at gomasa.org/leader

Culturally Responsive Training: New Way to Look at EducationThe philosophy of “culturally responsive education training” speaks to how everyone involved in educating children can remain open and receptive to the voices and experiences children bring to the school setting. Read about how Kalamazoo Public Schools is making a long-term commitment to improve education.

Legislative VoicePeter Spadafore, MASA’s point-person on government relations, goes in-depth on the budget and what to expect as the process unfolds.

K-12 Administrative Certification: Michigan’s Only Alternative Path to LeadershipTell a colleague: MASSP’s “Path to Leadership” program provides an alternative route to earning a Michigan K-12 administrator certificate at an affordable cost and in a manageable time frame. This one-year, online-based program is the only state-approved alternative certification program. Applications are now being accepted. Learn more online or contact the MASSP Path to Leadership office at 231.335.PATH or e-mail tammy@michiganprincipals.org.