Leadership, Professional Development, and School Transformation Action Item

DATE:	Tuesday, October 15, 2019
TO:	School Board Members
FROM:	Jeff Eakins, Superintendent
SUBJECT / RECOMMENDATIONS
Approve the Agreement for Technical Services #19180-ATS-IV with Corwin Press, Inc. (Leadership, Professional Development, and School Transformation)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Corwin contract is funded by the Instructional Leadership Faculty Development (ILFD) Grant through the Florida Department of Education.  The grant provides districts with yearly funding to support the development of leaders so they are better able to improve instruction in their schools. The focus of the 2019/2020 grant will be to build on lessons learned from last year. Doug Fisher, national consultant, author and literacy expert, will continue working with the principals and leadership teams in twenty seven of our elementary Achievement Schools to intentionally design learning activities which include the purposeful selection of instructional materials, evidence-based teaching methods, and strategic grouping of students based on assessment data. Doug and his team will provide two full days of professional learning for school leadership teams followed by six intensive coaching days in five select schools.  The fourteen elementary schools not included are receiving a different strand of literacy professional learning and support.
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES
• Recruit, support, and retain a highly effective and diverse workforce • Develop a culture of respect, trust, collaboration and equity • Continuously improve processes and systems
FINANCIAL IMPACT (Budgeted:  Yes)
Funds in the amount of $175,400 will be available in the ILFD grant. For tracking purposes, the project specific to this agenda item is 3730.
EVALUATION
Doug Fisher has worked with districts across the country to improve literacy practices for teachers and outcomes for students. He has authored over 20 well known educational books and hundreds of journal articles on topics such as equity, literacy, and powerful instructional practices. He focuses his work on proven, research-based practices that have been shown to have the highest effect sizes. In recent work with a district in California that used the same design model that will be used in Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS), the district gained 811 points on the state Academic Performance Index. In just a few years of implementation, 74 percent of students were proficient in reading, as compared to 38 percent in prior years. In his work with HCPS last school year with our 50 Achievement Schools, participants stated that professional learning resulted in gains in knowledge and skills that they were able to bring back to their schools. The translation of new knowledge and skills contributed to a number of outcomes, including students taking increased ownership of their learning, an improved planning process, and classroom practices that were more aligned to the Visible Learning for Literacy work. Schools that implemented visible learning strategies with fidelity across classrooms saw percentage point gains in ELA proficiency.
SUBMITTED BY:

Tricia McManus		Gretchen Saunders
Assistant Superintendent, Leadership, Professional Development, and School Transformation (813) 272-4876		Chief Business Officer (813) 272-4270
		B 6.20
Hillsborough County Public Schools (Florida) * Mtg.#20191015_932 (Board Meeting) * Section B Item# 6.20