Changing the System in
Madera Unified
Change begins with the belief that change must happen. Madera Unified, like manny school districts, had a long tradition of schools just "doing their own thing."
When Pivot Learning Partners began working with Madera nearly four years ado, Superintendent John Stafford likened the work to "putting a skeleton on a jellyfish...It was painful for everyone and uncomfortable at times, but it really put a structure in place on how decisions get made and how things get done."
With Pivot Learning, the district brought together its administrators, principals and teachers to give their efforts towards student achievement renewed focus. Jennifer Gaviola, Director of Special Education, noted that "we spent our first year really changing our meeting focus from what we wanted to discuss to what we needed to discuss by looking at what our data showed us." Pivot Learning coaches guided Madera to examine test scores and achievement results more closely in a process called the Cycle of Inquiry. They not only identified area in which their students were excelling, but more importantly, where they are not and what they should do about it. "The coaches helped us to ask the right questions in the right way," said Stafford. "'What are our students' needs? How do we meet those needs?' From there, everything else falls into place."
| Implementing system-wide change is like "putting a skeleton on a jellyfish." |
As a result of these efforts, Madera fostered a culture of collaboration among its schools, making improved teaching and learning a shared challenge. By knowing what works and what doesn't educators make better decisions or adjust their practices accordingly. As Gaviola remarked, "We developed a professional learning community focused on student outcomes and a systems approach to our students who had not responded to instruction."
This hard work is yielding results. "one of the first places where we saw a high level of success was with our special education students," said Stafford. "We're seeing similiar success with our English Learners, so we are redoubling our commitment." Ms. Gaviola agreed: "Some may see this progress as the finish line; we really see this as the start of the marathon." The focus on Madera is not only on the students, but also on changing the system, such that Stafford affirmed, "Regardless of who is in the chair after me, the system will be self-improvning and self-sustaining."