adam smith · 2020-06-10 · adam smith strategic area i: leadership . highly effective school...

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Adam Smith An Entry Plan Presented to the

East Baton Rouge Parish School Board May 2020

Purpose The purpose of this document is to better acquaint myself with members of the greater Baton Rouge Community and to provide a set of sample activities to guide the deliberate transition into the 2020-2021 school year. My entry plan creates an intentional focus for the first 100 days of my service as the Superintendent of Schools for East Baton Rouge Parish. This plan and related application materials symbolize my wholehearted preparation and commitment to advancing the goals of the children and families of this community. Moreover, it represents my firm belief in relationship building, engaging in data driven decision making and seeking multiple modes of input to foster a collaborative learning community. This entry plan is not intended to be an all-inclusive, prescribed document, but rather a fluid roadmap to foster ongoing conversation with the greater community of stakeholders and a pre-cursor to long range, formal strategic planning.

My entry plan is organized into three strategic sections that lie at the core of the effectiveness of any educational organization: leadership, teaching and learning and resources. Over my first 100 days of service, I will engage in listening and learning exercises to solidify and improve relationships; to better understand the district’s capacity beyond the perspective of my current role; to gage the various perceptions of a variety of stakeholders; to earn stakeholder trust; and to readjust organizational systems and structures to be more efficient in all key areas of district operations.

Our COMMITMENT Our CHILDREN Our COMMUNITY

Leadership Teaching &

Learning

Resources

Adam Smith An Entry Plan Presented to the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board

May 2020

“Leadership is not about titles, positions, or flow charts. It is about one life influencing another” - John Maxwell

Core Values In addition to the three key strategic focus areas, a fundamental set of core values will guide and permeate not only my transition activities, but also my entire tenure of service.

OURCommittment

OURChildren

OURCommunity

OUR collective and whole hearted dedication to the mutually agreed upon purpose and direction

of this district is OUR strongest asset.

OUR students, past, present and future, are what is most important. They must always remain at the center of all that we do and guide OUR decisions.

OUR citizens deserve faithful stewards of their resources. We must build upon what works and

replace ineffectiveness to earn the trust of OUR public.


May 2020

“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” Frederick Douglass

Strategic Area I: Leadership Highly effective school systems are led by governing bodies that establish policies in support of the administration and their superintendents who earn the trust of their boards. It is essential for leadership at all levels to be committed to working together to meet common goals. Engaging in relationship building activities to establish the board and the superintendent, as a cohesive, collaborative unit fostering the shared purpose of serving all children will be an immediate priority. Building a unified team of central office staff and strengthening relationships with building level principals is also essential for success to improve the capacity of the district to embody it’s mission and vision of service to its community. Leadership at all levels must engage and involve all stakeholders in meaningful ways to establish strategic, measurable, actionable, realistic and timebound goals to support increased student achievement while fostering two way modes of communication and earning community trust. Furthermore, establishing common understandings of the system’s purpose and direction are fundamental to the effectiveness of district leadership. For these reasons, key focus points within the strategic leadership area are as follows:

♦ Core Values and purpose statements that define the district’s beliefs teaching, learning and service to children and the community

♦ Policies and procedures that are committed to supporting system effectiveness and efficiencies

♦ Organizational structures designed for service to children and for effective management ♦ Stakeholder engagement for constructive feedback, community support and innovative

change ♦ Leadership development for the establishment of clear employee pipeline development ♦ Data analysis and feedback to support short term goal and long range strategic planning

for a commitment to continuous improvement

Adam Smith

An Entry Plan Presented to the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board May 2020

Strategic Area I: Leadership

Proposed Action Steps

I.A

• Engage in a series of community introductions via social media, interviews and targeted speaking and listenting engagements to connect with diverse groups of stakeholders

I.B• Establish Board communications structures for two way communications to build trust

and enhance relationships

I.C• Establish regular meetings and two way modes of communication with a variety of

stakeholder groups inclusive of teachers, parents, community activists, charter school operators, local media outlets and business leaders

I.D• Evaluate the organizational chart inclusive of central office positions and functions at

all levels to reorganize for effectiveness

I.E• Establish standing committees in the areas of academics, personnel managment,

facilities, communications, and other board identified areas to serve as pre-cursors to strategic planning

I.F• Establish two way speaking and listening sessions with school leaders to receive input

on areas of need, establish better working relationships and to receive feedback on district organizational, academic and communication structures

I.G• Recruit and retain highly motivated and qualified district leadership team members with

newly established group norms, school support structures, data driven departmental goals and two way communiation strategies

Adam Smith


Strategic Area II: Teaching & Learning A commitment to supporting the teaching and learning of all children is the primary purpose and expectation of every district employee. Essential to our success is the school system’s capacity to establish a culture and climate that supports learning at the highest levels. Towards this goal, my entry plan focuses on ensuring equitable and rigorous academic programming for all children; increasing quality seats to foster school choice within our community; and deploying appropriate supports to level the playing field for at risk children and special populations of students. Staff must remain committed to the ongoing analysis of student achievement data to inform instructional practices and the allocation of resources aligned to twenty first century, technology based learning. To this end, the key focus areas within the teaching and learning strategic area are as follows:

♦ Alignment of instructional resources (both print and digital) to core academic state standards with a firm commitment to high expectations for all

♦ Academic programming and structures to strengthen neighborhood schools, promote innovation, problem solving, creativity, competition and school choice within the community

♦ Commitment to high levels of effective instruction (both face to face and online) with certified staff operating at the highest levels of professional practice and customer service in support of all children

♦ Utilization of formative and summative assessment methods to secure timely and accurate data that leads to a systemic commitment to demonstratable improvement of student learning

♦ A committed culture of reflective practice to continually assess the effectiveness of programs and the efficiencies of organizational conditions to support and improve teaching and learning

♦ Professional learning communities that promote and celebrate collaboration

Adam Smith


Strategic Area II: Teaching and Learning


II.A

• Engage staff in high levels of data analysis to deterime a course of action leading to priority goals for each school, grade configuration and district level subgroup; Create a common standard for data walls across district schools and administrative sites to track and communicate systemic and school level goals

II.B• Review principal and assistant principal data and job assignments; Recuit, hire and retain

highly motivated and qualified instructional leaders and building managers to fill vacancies

II.C• Utilize the state's Strong Start 2020 planning guide to identify key priorities to support

varoius instructional and professional learning models for the seamless pivot between online and face to face learning as needed for the upcoming and future school years

II.D

• Evaluate the district's porfolio of schools to develop goals for portfolio management while strengthening neighborhood schooling; expanding school choice through charter and other strategies; achieving unification; and enhancing the district's broad scope of academic programming to promote equity of access. The data collected to serve as a pre-cursor for long term portfolio strategic planning.

II.E• Seek and expand community partnerships to implement restorative practices and trauma

informed classroom to support psycho social and emotional learning while using the data collected to serve as a pre-cursor for long term strategic planning

II.F• Seek and expand community partnerships and grant funding to maintain and expand early

childhood learning services while using the data collected to serve as a pre-cursor for long term strategic planning

II.G• Evaluate human capital and talent strategies to ensure highly motiviated and qualified

instrutional staff are placed in high demand areas while engaging in a critical review of the personnel accountability plan to ensure high expectations and equity across schools

Adam Smith


Strategic Area III: Resources A district demonstrates its priorities through its allocation of resources, and the community deserves for the school system to earn its trust as faithful and responsible stewards of taxpayer funds. The equitable distribution of resources must support professional learning for staff; guarantee an essential standards based curriculum; provide for supplemental instructional intervention materials; maintain and advance technology and online learning supports; demonstrate a commitment to competitive teacher salaries; and provide for safe, modern twenty-first century, physical and online learning communities for all children. My plan calls for the careful examination of all budgetary allocations and resource utilization to ensure appropriate and equitable levels of distribution for all children; sustainability for continued community service; and a commitment to progressive thinking for overall organizational effectiveness. Towards this purpose, key focus areas within the resource allocation strategic area are as follows:

♦ Deliberate and protected structures of professional learning to develop teacher capacity, improve learning environments and increase student achievement

♦ Intentional strategies to attract and retain qualified personnel especially at the district’s neediest schools serving at risk children

♦ Systemic approach to evaluate and meet growing technological needs ♦ Dedicate resources to long range planning in support of the district’s mission and vision

with a commitment to meeting the needs of the community ♦ Alignment of human, material and fiscal resources to focus on district improvement

priorities in support of turnaround, innovation, increased student achievement and overall organizational effectiveness in a commitment to support the equitable learning of all children

Adam Smith


Strategic Area III: Resources


III.A

• Analyze financial materials inclusive of a list of open contracts, active budgets and recent audits for areas outside of my current scope of work to facilitate conversations regarding efficiencies and coordination of resources

III.B• Maintain and enhance the district's "command center" in support of the district safety

team to ensure proper crisis and emergency response protocols inclusive of meeting with the facilities team to receive analysis reports towards safety and modernization goals

III.C• Review recommendations from previous efficiency audits to identify resources to address

areas of concern, assess the degree to which departmetns are cross functional, and combine areas for increased efficiency in conjunction with a new organizational chart

III.D• Evaluate technology plans, tools and capacity to identify areas of weakness, security

concerns, and current level of support for 21st century teaching and learning in order to prioritize resources needed to transition into Strong Start 2020 planning

III.E• Establish an equity task force and identify a partner to conduct an "equity audit" in major

areas across the district inclusive of budgeting, staffing, course offerings and resource allocation while using the data collected as a pre-cursor to long range strategic planning

III.F• Examine all district job descriptions and the personnel accountbility plan to transform

talent strategies to address identified areas of need

III.G• Convene a master planning comittee to review a report of all district facilities and owned

property while using the data collected and recommendations as a pre-cursor for long term strategic planning

III.H• Identify partners to review all aspects of district transportation inclusive of routing,

maintenance and replacement of an aging fleet while using the data collected and recommendations as a pre-cursor for long range strategic planning

Outcomes At the conclusion of the first 100 days, findings will be presented to the school board in a formal, public report at an appropriate public school board meeting. The findings will provide the foundation for my first year of work with the school board, staff and the community and serve as a needs assessment and pre-cursor towards long term strategic planning. During the first 100 days, I will make routine status updates to the school board at our public meetings to foster higher levels of personal and staff accountability, ongoing communication, stakeholder engagement and public trust. Through the structures developed by the implementation of this plan, all staff will remain committed to putting children first, operational transparency, increased accountability, organizational effectiveness and continuous improvement for the common purpose of our identified goals. Working together, our community will have shared ownership and commitment towards meeting the needs of the children and families we serve.

Adam Smith


“Making sure all our students get a great education, find a career that’s fulfilling and rewarding, and have a chance to live out their dreams… wouldn’t just make us a more successful country – it would also make us a more fair and just one.”

- Bill Gates

Adam Smith Candidate Application Materials Presented to the

East Baton Rouge Parish School Board May 2020

Candidate Materials:

Instructional Leadership Data

Principal of Park Forest Middle School

Director/ Executive Director of Middle Schools

Assoicate Superintendent of Academics

♦ Grew SPS by +6.9 points

2005 - 2008

2008 - 2015

2015 - Present

♦ Met LEP subgroup proficiency requirements each year of service

♦ Met Annual Year Progress (AYP) component of SPS for consecutive years

♦ Special Assignment: Scotlandville HS obtained +11.1 school performance growth points in transition year (2010)

♦ Special Assignment: Glen Oaks HS obtained +5.9 school performance growth points in transition year (2012)

♦ District earned an

“A” in DCAI credited to the middle school cohort for each year of service and grew by+3.6

♦ 50% of assigned elementary cohort schools at CIR status increased a letter grade; the same schools are labeled “on track to exit CIR status” next year

♦ 80% (8 of 10) of assigned elementary cohort schools at CIR status demonstrated growth in SPS

♦ 92% (36 of 39) of assigned elementary cohort schools earned an “A” or “B” in Progress Index

Adam Smith


Candidate Materials: Letter of Intent

Adam Smith


Candidate Materials: Resume

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Candidate Materials: Resume (Continued)

Adam Smith


Candidate Materials: References


May 2020

Candidate Materials: References (Continued)

Adam Smith


Candidate Materials: Certification Verification

Adam Smith


Candidate Materials: Professional Accomplishments

Adam Smith


adam smith · 2020-06-10 · adam smith strategic area i: leadership . highly effective school...

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