More than 150 Valley View School District 365U educators set their sights squarely on continuous improvement at this week’s VVSD Summer Leadership Academy, embracing the S.M.A.R.T. Learning Systems mantra designed to build capacity for student-centered, goal-directed learning.
Ever since VVSD began a Strategic Plan “refresh” three years ago, the state’s 8th largest school district has been diligently working toward the point where teachers and administrators from each school work together to truly impact student learning in each of their own schools in measurable ways.
“We now have the power to maximize the great things we’re already doing,” VVSD Assistant Superintendent Rachel Kinder told the gathering. “It’s through strength in numbers that we have the ability to be a school system, not a system of separate schools going in different directions.”
“It’s been awe inspiring to see what this district has done to prepare the system for this,” said Anne Conzemius, president and Co-founder of Wisconsin-based S.M.A.R.T. Learning Systems, LLC. “This isn’t something that just happened. It has been done strategically so that it aligns with everything Valley View is trying to do.”
The SMART School Improvement Process began for VVSD several years ago with the training of a District Level Team. This week’s activities focused on Building Impact Teams. Those teams will take what they learned back to soon-to-be-formed Department/Grade Level/Program Impact Teams.
Each training level involves a number of steps, including determining the “Greatest Area of Need” (GAN) which then leads to a search for effective practices and ultimately to identification of applicable professional learning. The Process is a continuous improvement loop aimed at increasing learning for both adults and students in the system.
“Each of you holds a piece of the puzzle,” Kinder told Summer Leadership Academy attendees. “You are a critical component. Through our shared efforts, we have the ability to maximize the impact on all of our learners.”
“This is an all-in approach, a learning-by-doing model,” Conzemius added. “We call this working smarter, not harder. It takes a little longer, but that planning will turn into results more quickly.”
VVSD Superintendent James A. Mitchem Jr. called the S.M.A.R.T School Improvement Process “a road map for school improvement second to none,” adding “In my many years of education, this is without a doubt the most important training I’ve been through and the most beneficial. I’m very excited about the possibilities for this district because of the significant impact it will have on the growth and achievement of our children.”