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These stops along the way, what we call our short cycles of improvement, are what make our scorecard an essential tool for continuous growth. 

 I shared how Oxford School District's strategic plan and scorecard serve as our roadmap and navigation system, helping us measure what matters and align our efforts.

However, a road trip is rarely a continuous drive; it usually includes a series of pit stops, and when we run into traffic or an unexpected obstacle, sometimes we need a course correction or two. These stops along the way, what we call our short cycles of improvement, are what make our scorecard an essential tool for continuous growth. 

From Broad Goals to Daily Drives

Our strategic plan outlines the destination, and the scorecard tracks our progress, but the actual 鈥渄riving鈥� happens in classrooms and professional learning communities every single day. This is where our short cycles of improvement come to life. They turn our district-wide goals into specific and actionable steps for our teachers and students.

Take our work at Della Davidson Elementary School, where we鈥檝e seen remarkable progress in both math and reading proficiency. The school鈥檚 scorecard is a direct reflection of our district-level goals, and the teachers at Della Davidson use it to set their own specific targets. This alignment ensures that every goal, from the district down to the classroom, supports the same outcome.

The Power of Frequent Check-ins

An integral part of this process is the frequent check-ins. Instead of waiting for an annual test to measure progress, the teachers and PLCs at Della Davidson look at data every nine weeks. This isn鈥檛 about judging performance; it鈥檚 about a collaborative, supportive review of overall progress.

Here鈥檚 what that looks like in action:

• Goal-setting. At the beginning of the year, PLCs identify specific skills and the students who need to focus on these skills.

• Monitoring meetings. After benchmarks and assessments like Star, Principal Patches Calhoun meets with each PLC to review data and discuss progress toward their goals.

• Personalized support. Principal Calhoun also holds validation meetings every nine weeks with individual teachers. They discuss specific goals and identify what professional development or support each teacher needs.

This constant feedback loop allows us to be agile - We can adjust our approach, provide targeted support, and ensure no student falls behind.

This constant feedback loop allows us to be agile. If we see a group of students struggling with a concept, we don't have to wait a year to address it. We can adjust our approach, provide targeted support, and ensure no student falls behind.

The Results Are In

Our focus on these short cycles has paid off. Consider the 2023-2024 school year, where we focused heavily on math instruction. Through a week-long professional development session with the Center for Math and Science Education and after gathering feedback from the students themselves, Della Davidson Elementary saw significant gains.

For example, a group of students who ended first grade with only 28% proficiency in math jumped to 72% proficiency by the end of second grade.

Similarly, in reading, our goal was to have 69% of students reading at grade level. Thanks to the diligent work of our teachers and the continuous cycles of improvement, we exceeded that goal, hitting 72%. These successes are a direct credit to our highly functioning PLCs and their commitment to using data to inform their work. Our teachers are now getting invaluable and timely feedback directly from the students, learning what they need to succeed. 

Ms. LaTonya Smith, one of our second-grade teachers, noted, 鈥淭his whole process has helped me morph into a growth mindset mentality to where it鈥檚 not about me, but it鈥檚 about me becoming a better version of me so that I can work and improve as an educator to help the babies that have been entrusted to me to grow.鈥�

鈥淭his whole process has helped me morph into a growth mindset mentality -so that I can work and improve as an educator to help the babies that have been entrusted to me to grow.鈥�

When a PLC leader like Ms. Smith brings a positive attitude and a growth mindset to her team, it creates an environment where everyone feels empowered and encouraged to improve.

A Unified System

Just like on a trip, there will always be unexpected turns and new challenges. By using our short cycles of improvement as regular pit stops and check-ins, we ensure we鈥檙e always on the right path. If we learn we鈥檙e not, we course-correct.

This process, from our district-wide scorecard down to the frequent check-ins in our PLCs, creates a unified, responsive system where every employee, every school, and every student is working together toward a common destination. 

Our journey to improve is about more than maintaining our status as a "high-performing" district; it鈥檚 about becoming a truly aligned one. By refining what we measured and how we measured it, we鈥檝e created a system where every action and adjustment is tied directly back to our shared goals, ensuring our entire district is now moving in a single direction.

This is what it looks like to go from a system of schools to a unified school system.