December 6, 2005, marked the beginning of an important component in the superintendent's plan for academic progress of Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools. On this date a letter of invitation was sent to thirty-plus designated individuals, to include central and site-based administration as well as members of the school board, community, business and faith organizations, requesting their commitment to membership on the superintendent’s Guiding Coalition. The purpose of the Guiding Coalition is to steer the school system through the process of establishing and maintaining a system-wide focus on the implementation of the district’s philosophy of teaching and learning.
The objectives of the Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools Guiding Coalition include the following:
- To establish and continuously communicate a clear, shared vision of high quality, standards-based teaching and learning along with a vision of a standards-based system focused on the continuous improvement of instruction.
- To establish and maintain a guidance system that will identify key subsystems and system functions (such as governance, human resources, curriculum and instruction, professional development, school improvement planning, data and information, budget, operations, etc.) to make sure they:
- are well coordinated – including system partners and consultants having clear expectations and support systems
- are working with synergy without needless redundancy or burden on schools and teachers
- identify activities, projects, and habits that can be eliminated in order to support the focus.
- To build the capacity of system leaders to:
- maintain the focus on teaching and learning in a climate of trust and mutual support
- identify gaps between envisioned reality and current reality in key system actions, sub-systems, and functions
- mobilize the system to engage in high leverage “gap closing” strategies
- understand and implement their role in support of principals, teachers and school teams.
- To identify and assist in the periodic analysis of a selected number of high priority indicators of progress related to the system focus on teaching and learning and the key objectives for the year.
The first meeting of the Guiding Coalition took place on December 13, 2005, with 28 persons in attendance. Dr. Stephen White, Professional Development Associate for the Center for Performance Assessment, provided an orientation to the group that took a look at the principles of accountability for educational leaders, and how an accountability system must closely reflect the values, strategies and evidence of the school district. An effective accountability framework will incorporate three levels of indicators: Tier 1 – system wide; Tier 2 – school-based; and Tier 3 – a narrative description of the school’s successes and challenges. The work of the Guiding Coalition will be to determine the architecture of the accountability system and to communicate this so that all understand the expectations. The accountability system that is developed will be the key to public acceptance. The work is now in the initial stages.
