2013 Pathways to the Prize - District Winners | Page 12

Pathways to the Prize
Lessons from the 2011 SCORE Prize District Winner

for many years and know the community well. Each works collaboratively with the schools, and serves with the
principals, as a member of the district decision-making team. Several take on special assignments. For example,
Dr. Mike Winstead, the assistant director, helps all of the schools analyze data for instructional improvement.
Sharon Anglim, head of communications and special projects, has great strategic abilities and was asked to
develop a district-wide communications plan.
The community views the director of schools as a skilled communicator who empowers her leadership team
with the information needed to make good decisions. Her communications with the staff are frequent and
thorough, and colleagues are expected to become familiar with data and research so they can make decisions
that best fit the needs of the district.
Thompson initiated the strategic planning process to ensure the district provides the best possible education
for its students. She frequently works with outside experts to provide critical feedback on district initiatives.
For example, she worked with national expert Dr. William Daggett to guarantee the strategic plan was an effective planning tool. Thompson has earned the reputation as a strong advocate for best practices and keeping the
district at the leading edge of effectiveness.
Stakeholder Advisory Groups. In addition to ongoing conversations with the school board and leader-

ship team, the director has instituted two other groups to help her identify and address education-related
concerns that arise. One group, the Director’s Education Roundtable, is comprised of community
representatives. The Roundtable is convened four times a year to discuss matters of concern to
district leadership. Topics considered by the group have included uniforms, student morale, and
instructional issues.
Another advisory group is the Critical Friends Group. This group is comprised of internal staff,
including teachers, support staff, and administrators. Participation is voluntary and takes place
outside of school hours. The group addresses concerns of students and members of the group.
For example, the group once addressed a school librarian’s concern that students were strictly
relying on online research tools and not using library resources. In response, the group asked
the librarian to work with a small group of new and senior teachers to consider new ideas and
guidelines for students on expectations related to the use of research tools.
Maryville City Schools also keeps in touch with its community, administering surveys to a
sample of community members three times per year. These surveys help the district to ensure
that they are aware of community needs and on track with their strategic plan.
School leadership. Thompson delegates many decisions to principals, who she considers to
be key instructional leaders in the district. Like Thompson, most principals know their communities well. Most remain with their schools for many years, moving to another opportunity
only when a new school opens and requires experienced leadership. Principals enjoy wide latitude
to reach goals, but are held strictly accountable for progress. Principals, in turn, convey high expectations to teachers, hold them accountable for success, and, as needed, provide them with mentoring
and other supports so that they can maximize their effectiveness.

Principals are not afraid to ask for additional resources. For example, when Maryville High School decided
to tackle freshman readiness, school leaders requested additional counselors and tutors to support the new
freshman program. “You have to catch them early and provide them with all of the supports they need,” said
Maelea Galyon, an assistant principal at Maryville High School. The high school builds in supports to help

12

2011 SCORE Prize District Winner: Maryville City Schools

Pathways to the Prize
Lessons from the 2011 SCORE Prize District Winner

ninth graders develop time management and study skills, academic vocabulary, and comprehension skills
needed to thrive in AP and honors courses. The school also altered its curriculum so that students could
enroll in year-long English, math, and science courses. (The school is on a block schedule.) Teachers and
administrators also assess students to determine interventions they will provide.
“No one escaped our notice,” Galyon said. “If we were worried about any student who was not adjusting well
to high school life or not doing well in his or her classes, we went after them. If it was an attendance problem,
they had to check in with their counselor every day during morning breakfast. If it was a course issue, they
attended mandatory tutoring either with a peer or a teacher. We wanted every student to get through that
freshman year with the skills they need to succeed.”
The roles of the district and the schools have been clearly delineated. The district provides basic curriculum, summative assessments, and professional learning opportunities and allocates staff members and finances. Principals make decisions over other aspects of school functions, such as how
to use resources, hiring and placement, teacher evaluation, formative assessments, school-based
professional learning, student discipline, and building management. “Site-based management
works for us,” said high school principal Greg Roach. “We can control almost everything
except budget. That way we are able to meet the specific needs of our schools and students.
In a small community like this, it’s crucial.”

Ensuring excellent teaching
Maryville’s expectations for outstanding performance extend to teachers as well as
students, and the district gives teachers the support they need to excel. The district’s
expectations are met both by providing substantial teacher and student supports and by
giving teachers the opportunity to collaborate with each other.
Professional learning. Maryville leaders recognize that to be effective, teachers need to

receive multiple forms of professional learning. The district put into place several types
of opportunities at the district, school, and individual levels. For example, the district
hosted a series of workshops from 2007 to 2011 focused primarily on literacy (writing
and reading), mathematics, science, assessment, and data analysis to address priority student performance targets. Other professional learning opportunities have included:
Writing: All teachers attended “Write to Learn” workshops. The sessions used results
from the district writing assessments to identify areas of student need and provide
targeted help to teachers in those areas. Teachers learned about the Six Traits writing
process and received Traits Crates as resources. Two national consultants provided training
on writing across content areas and vocabulary development. A teacher-led elementary
school task force developed a new writing curriculum with benchmarks and a rubric. Teachers
in grades 6-8 attended additional professional learning sessions on the Six Plus One Writing
Traits process. As a result of the training, Maryville implemented a system-wide K-8 portfolio
process. Teachers scored student writing samples at least four times a year in addition to scoring
the Writer’s Workshop samples at the lower grades.
Reading: All teachers attended sessions on reading instruction across content areas, and all schools
implemented Response to Intervention and differentiated instruction in reading. In addition, the
middle and high schools learned about and implemented the national Lexile Reading system to
determine student reading levels more precisely and identify interventions that addressed needs
and led to growth in fluency and comprehension for students in grades 7 through 10. At Maryville

2011 SCORE Prize District Winner: Maryville City Schools

13