LM March 2024

conference showcase

Just

Tips You

AASA National Conference on Education in San Diego

Can Use

Education conferences are a tremendous opportunity to learn about innovative strategies and best practices in schools. However, it’s not always possible to attend every session you want. In this feature in Leadership Matters, IASA highlights conference breakout sessions you may have missed. The article is not intended to offer a comprehensive review of each presentation, but rather provide you with 3-5 tangible tips from the presentation that you can use in your district.

This session explored the intricate strategies and dynamic factors influencing superintendents as they navigate systemic changes within their school districts. The discussion centered around the imperative to address unique district challenges, improve operations efficiency, align with modern educational best practices, adjust to evolving student demographics and how to adhere to legislative mandates, all while crafting and implementing strategic plans. Panelists : Keisha Scarlett, Superintendent of St. Louis Public School District; Angelica Ramsey, Superintendent of Fort Worth Independent School District; Rob Anderson, Superintendent of Boulder Valley School District; Jermall Wright, Superintendent of Little Rock School District. 1 Differentiated Funding: As a way to allocate unspent federal ESSER dollars, the Boulder Valley School District created a differentiated funding system for its network of schools. Each of the district’s 56 schools were placed in three tiers, with the schools with higher percentages of high-needs students receiving the most amount of money. The lowest-performing schools had to adhere to certain guidelines as a condition of re ceiving the funds. The effort helped significantly boost academic achievement in the district’s lowest perform ing schools. Navigating Complexity: Strategies for Systematic Changes in School Districts

2 Sometimes Need to Move Ahead: Boulder Valley Super intendent Rob Anderson admitted he intentionally didn’t schedule a series of community engagement sessions about the differentiated funding plan, anticipating they would only bog down the process. Rather, he emphasized the message that every school would receive additional funds. 3 Buy Yourself Time: A large-scale shift in teaching and learning practices in the district may take at least three years to properly evaluate. Superintendents may need to buy time with their public and board by keeping the message focused on the number of new opportunities you are creating for students, rather than discussing the immediate impact on academic achievement. Creating new opportunities can lead to a boost in student achievement. 4 Organizational Chart: Review your district’s organizational chart to make sure it’s updated to reflect your current staff. A review of the organizational chart can help you become aware of overlapping duties and also help you better develop succession plans for staff. In addition, a new superintendent should consider scheduling one-on-one meetings with all employees to learn about their job responsibilities and also gain a better understanding of how to best communicate with them. 5 Create Initiatives: To emphasize literacy and get people excited, the St. Louis Public School District developed the theme “Literacy For the Lou.” Creating an initiative with a theme and logo helps build excitement and engagement with your staff and community, producing better results.

22 LM March 2024