Fostering Innovation in Petaluma City Schools
Petaluma City Schools began its work with Pivot Learning Partners as many districts do. They focused on the use of data and inquiry to inform decision-making, studi ed test results and adjusted their practices based on what was and wasn't working for students.To help implement new practices, they built and in-district "network" and established professional learning communities throughout the district. Beginning in the district office, these new structures serve as the conduit through which professional development on best practices could be shared with all administrators and staff in a rapid, systematic way. According to Superintendent Greta Viguie, "This partnership brings the work to the district leadership and directly connects the network to the daily work of all our district leaders."
Although these efforts showed promise, Pivot Learning was concerned that education's current toolkit of best practices might not be comprehensive enough to meet all the challenges that public education faces. With a new focus on innovation, Pivot Learning launched an innovative effort to redesign school districts into high-performing organization. When Pivot Leanring nvited Petaluma City Schools to join this undertaking, it was "an excellent time to clarify roles and to rethink how our work supports another's work," so Superintendent Viguie jumped at the chance. "We believe the focus of everyone in our organization needs to be on learning, and we all benefit from learning together because we all improve our practices."
Through this pilot program in the Pivot Learning District Redesign Workshop, Petaluma is now able to expand the role and deepen the work of the district's professional learning community, making it clear that "reform" means change for everybody. "What we identified," said Viguie, "was that not everyone here was in a leadership role, or hadn't been included as much. Therefore, some don't understand the connection that their roles played in district-wide goals." Through this expanded professional learning community and a new focus on redesigning the district, Viguie hoped to create greater clarity among her educators about "how they are contributing and how they can support the district efforts to increase student achievement."
| "The focus of everyone in our organization needs to be on learning" |
The partnership enabled Petaluma to learn about some innovative tools and promising practices emerging from Pivot Learning's research partnership with Elk Grove Unified, a high-performing district with challenging populations of students. Right now, Pivot Learning coaches share new tools with the Petaluma team, and Viguie reports that "it has become something that everyone has come to really look forward to." Pivot Learning appreciates Petaluma's willingness to take on the challenge of helping us innovate to create high-performing school systems—both large and small.