Your weekly source of learner-centered inspiration
November 9, 2023
Dear Educator,
Our team has been busy working with many of you, our amazing partners, on creating a shared vision to catalyze communities, designing systems and structures to shift experiences for students and educators, and planning to redesign whole schools. It’s both energizing and hard work. As one educator shared, “We are still trying to do what we have always done and changing everything at the same time.” Thank you for being brave and leaning in to evolve our education systems so we can create new models, leave the ones that don’t work behind, and pave the way forward for many learners to come.
My Bright Spot this week features our partner in Logan County, KY that recently launched their Pillars of Success which serve as the district’s local accountability scorecard.
With Gratitude,
We want to hear from you! Share your Learner-Centered Bright Spot with us here.
BRIGHT SPOT OF THE WEEK
A scorecard that measures what matters
As a member of the Kentucky Department of Education’s Local Laboratory of Learning, Logan County Schools, and specifically the LC Innovator team, have been designing a local accountability model. Over a year ago we started to define the Pillars of Success, get feedback, align success metrics, draft rubrics, get more feedback and revise them to ensure the metrics help measure what matters. It’s been so fun to work with the amazing team on this and model how local accountability can raise the bar and broaden metrics of success.
The Pillars Of Success website articulates the goal:
“Every quarter, Logan County Schools will use data collected from school surveys, state testing, and more to gauge how well the district supports our Pillars of Success: Student Performance, Student Growth, Student Readiness, and Student Wellbeing. These four pillars were identified by our LC Innovators-- a team of teachers, administrators, and support staff-- as the most important areas of success for the district. We have chosen to share this data with our families and community to build trust and earn support as we work to make the best decisions for our students each day.”
Logan County's first quarter of reporting currently available on their website.
There is power in communities being able to define success more broadly than a narrow test score. As many of our partners are developing their own version of pillars or scorecards, I am excited to see what’s possible when local communities determine what matters most and hold themselves accountable to getting there with multiple measures that tell a more complete story.
What are some ways that your district is defining and measuring what really matters? Reply to this newsletter to share or tag me @katiemartinedu and #LCBrightSpots on social.
RESOURCE ROUNDUP
Scorecards, school visits, local accountability models, and more.
1. Is your district effective? This seemingly simple question can get very complex without the right measurement instruments in place. See how scorecards that measure what matters can help districts get clear on the answer and continually closer to “Yes!”
2. Local Accountability Models. Superintendent Dr. Brian K. Creasman of Fleming County Schools (KY) moves past “why” and dives into “how” districts can design local accountability models that meet the needs of students, parents, local communities, and the workforce, while also fulfilling state mandates and requirements.
3. An opportunity to visit schools like Logan County. Our country is filled with schools and districts we can learn with and from. This truth is at the heart of our Learner-Centered Connections program and this spring we’re taking our learning to Logan County. Interested in joining a cohort? Let us know here!
LET'S SHARE OUR BRIGHT SPOTS!
How are you defining and measuring what matters
Share your #LCBrightSpots on social media!
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