Leaders in Education Spo
Donna Wright , Ed . D
Wilson County Director of Schools
QTennessee is making huge strides in public education . We have a lot to be proud of in public education . How are you doing in Wilson County ?
A
We are making great strides across the district and have much to be grateful for as we continue to be focused and deliberate on behalf of the boys and girls in Wilson County . Even though last year was difficult across the state , we did not waste energy in replaying the testing issue and instead continued to focus very deliberately on Early Literacy , Reading and Math Instruction , and ACT .
We are experiencing powerful conversations about student work across grade levels that are reaping results for students . The emphasis we have placed on the ACT has been embraced by students , giving them an understanding how to improve their score by identifying the skill deficits , and most importantly , taking the courses needed to give them a better grasp of the areas assessed by the ACT test . In addition , we have created an awareness that the ACT preparation begins in the 3rd grade and that all teachers contribute to a student ’ s success as they prepare for the ACT .
QYou are a very open person . You host a feature on your website called Let ’ s Talk , where you open up for people to ask questions . How important is communication for public education ? And how do we improve ?
A
Over the summer we ran a trial communications assist referred to as Let ’ s Talk ! We were trying to figure out how we could possibly manage the vast amount of messages that are transmitted back and forth in any given day . With this feature , we are now able to quickly funnel it to the appropriate staff member or department and generate a response to the person who has submitted a question or comment . We are seeing fewer
continued on next page