May 2011

Districtwide initiatives lay groundwork for long-term success

When I arrived in JCPS in 2007, I was immediately impressed by three things: how deeply parents care about and support their children’s education, how dedicated and skilled our teachers and administrators are, and how willing the community is to help the district develop new strategies leading toward our goals of deeper student learning and long-term improvements in all student outcomes. These three qualities make JCPS and Louisville stand head and shoulders above most of our peers. It is something in which we should all feel tremendous pride.

Beginning in 2007, all of us got right to work on achieving these student-oriented goals. So much has happened since then that it’s easy to lose sight of how far we’ve come, so I would like to offer a brief recap of our progress. First, we have made the K–12 curriculum more challenging. The reading program now focuses on comprehension and effective writing. The elementary social studies curriculum now in development focuses on conceptual understanding. With the help of the GE Foundation, schools have implemented new world-class curricula in math and science at every grade level. All these changes reflect a shift from the memorization-and-drill approach to one that promotes student engagement and critical thinking.

We have also generated a fundamental shift in the very culture of our schools. The CARE for Kids program has created supportive classroom communities in which students develop the social skills they need to participate in collaborative learning. In most JCPS elementary and middle schools, CARE for Kids has enabled teachers to build a sense of order and community without resorting to discipline measures that cause students to disengage from the learning process. Behavior problems, discipline referrals, and suspensions are down. Learning is up.

Students need the support of adults, so our teacher and administrator training focuses on meeting individual student needs and closing achievement gaps. Many JCPS schools now have Professional Learning Communities in which teachers regularly meet to review student work together and to devise instructional strategies that will both accelerate and deepen student progress. The goal of these meetings is to individualize instruction so that we reach each student.

Many schools now have “data rooms” where all the student data is immediately available, enabling teachers to monitor performance across subject areas and grade levels. Having all the data at hand for teachers to analyze together promotes facultywide ownership of every student’s progress. We also have a system of quality indicators—which are measurements of key outcomes—that enables schools to track trends in everything from school culture to teacher attendance to student/computer ratios. These trend data help schools figure out where they are and are not improving so they can modify services accordingly. As part of an “early warning system” for students who are struggling in school, a new software program will track attendance and performance and—as early as fourth grade—will identify students who may be at risk of dropping out.

This system prompts us to intervene quickly and provide the support needed to make the student successful.
Dramatic changes have occurred at the high school level, where we have completely restructured the experience from what most students encountered even five years ago. For example, Freshman Academies and advisory programs provide personal support and help students make that critical transition from middle school. The high school trimester schedule (with three 12-week sessions instead of the standard 18-week semesters) has reduced class sizes; allowed students to concentrate on fewer subjects at a time, so they generally perform better; and provided additional opportunities for enrichment, remediation, and acceleration. Advanced Placement (AP) courses are now available in every high school, and increasing numbers of students are enrolling in and passing those courses, leading to college credits. Professional Career Theme Programs mirror Louisville’s economic development efforts as they prepare students for both college and career paths. A partnership with Jefferson Community and Technical College has transformed Western Magnet High into an early college, enrolling 137 students in college-level courses during this first year of the program.

With community input, we revised the student assignment plan to both sustain diversity and increase quality and equity throughout the school system. The plan also created new elementary magnet programs that offer a choice of learning opportunities few districts can rival, including performing arts, international studies, and technology. Our investment in magnet schools and programs—including extensive renovations, new equipment, and new teachers—is not only increasing student performance and motivation but also helping to revitalize the communities where the schools are located.

We have added full-time nurses to school staffs, built solid partnerships with Louisville’s business community, welcomed thousands of volunteers, received many generous donations, and won highly competitive grants. JCPS achieved all of this during a deep recession, yet the district still has a healthy fund balance so that the initiatives can be preserved and perhaps even expanded in the future.

The initial results of the district’s efforts during the past four years have been extremely promising. Many initiatives—notably, the new magnet schools, Freshman Academies, and CARE for Kids program—are already producing academic gains and will provide even more benefits in the long term. As they are expanded and strengthened districtwide, these initiatives will continue enhancing school culture, closing achievement gaps, and moving JCPS even further along the path toward greater student accomplishments and nationally recognized excellence.

Thousands of people have helped build this path. I want to express my appreciation to the parents, teachers, counselors, principals, and other JCPS staff members, as well as to the business and labor leaders, legislators and civic leaders, community organizations, and volunteers, who have worked tirelessly to move JCPS forward and to support initiatives that benefit every neighborhood, every school, every family, and every child. I leave with total confidence that JCPS is in good hands—because they are the hands of those same parents, staff, and community who so impressed me four short years ago.

Sincerely,
Superintendent Sheldon H. Berman, Ed.D.