It is difficult to believe that the thought to develop strategies to bring Continuous Improvement Science into Spartanburg County Schools is less than 2 years old. So much has happened in such a short time - all to the benefit of Spartanburg County students and educators. Here are some highlights:
Fall 2017: A group of Spartanburg Educators visited the School District of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, renowned for its turn-around of student achievement using Continuous Improvement practices, known to industry but new to education. Their question? Could we use these strategies in Spartanburg. The answer came back - yes. New question: How? Discussions continued with district leaders in planning next steps.
Spring 2018: An initial plan to train Continuous Improvement Coaches in schools identified through “The Four Schools Project,” a SAM initiative to find what would work to provide support to students and teachers in Spartanburg’s four highest poverty schools, those with the lowest achievement scores on standardized testing. In May 2018, an initial training session was held for the first coaches and administrators.
July 2018: CI Coaches with teachers willing to serve as early adopters received 2 days of training with national consultants.
Fall 2018: Realizing the need to formalize and structure ongoing training efforts, SAM hired Mendy Mossbrook to lead CI training efforts.
Spring 2019: In less than five months, the official training hub of the Spartanburg Academic formed and received its launch funding from the family of John T. Wardlaw and grant funds through StriveTogether. The John T. Wardlaw Institute for Continuous Improvement was formalized to support ongoing and free training efforts to support educators in Spartanburg County Schools.
CI Training by the Numbers:
4 Classes held for classroom teachers
100+ Educators trained to Implement CI in classrooms Across Spartanburg County
1 Leadership Course In Continuous Improvement
New Classes Being Offered: SAM calls it Professional Development. Kids might want to call it summer school for their teachers. Either way you look at it, more educators and community members now have the opportunity to train in CI and prepare to use it in their classes once students return in August.