Dr.
Marcia V. Lyles Details Superintendent's First 100
Days:
Listen, Learn, and Lead
 Message
from Superintendent Dr. Marcia V. Lyles
As I embarked upon my Christina
journey I pledged to listen attentively, learn
quickly and lead boldly. It has been a fascinating,
illuminating, challenging and rewarding 100 days,
and I thank every member of the Christina community
for being gracious, welcoming and informative
guides. I’ve spoken with hundreds of people having
different relationships with and perspectives of the
Christina School District. I’ve spoken with
community leaders and met with PTAs. I’ve hosted a
legislative breakfast, met with our mayors and
attended community events.
Our schools and district
administrators contributed a great deal to my
Christina education, but my most powerful
experiences have been during my school visits. This
is where I saw our educators in action and I met
firsthand Christina’s greatest asset, Christina’s
most precious resource – our children, our future.
Some of the ways I’ve listened
and learned have included:
- Analyzed assessment and accountability
data for both district and individual schools
- Reviewed Strategic Plan, Consolidated
Grant application, School Success Plans
- Reviewed recruitment, assignment and
retention strategies
- Reviewed professional development
activities
- Reviewed resumes and evaluations of
district senior leadership and principals
- Reviewed pertinent board documents
- Reviewed district financial materials
including budget, audits, grants
- Met with district and school leadership
for view of programs, practices and policies
- Commissioned a Curriculum Audit
- Met with district teams as a whole, and
one-on-one
- Held an Executive Team Retreat
- Met one-on-one with principals (including
assistant principals)
- Led a two day Administrators' Retreat
- Hosted Listening Sessions with teachers
- Met one-on-one with key operational staff
- Met one-on-one with board members for
feedback on development of entry plan and
discussion of expectations, roles, norms and
priorities
- Participated in Board Workshops
- Conducted Town Hall Meetings
- Held a Legislative Breakfast
- Met with university educators
- Met with PTA leaders
- Met with parents
- Met with community leaders
After three months
of reviews and visits and meetings, I have deepened
my resolve that we must Expect Excellence – Every
day, for every child, in every class, in every
school. As you can see from the
presentation I made to the Christina Board
of Education on November 10, I have outlined 5
objectives that require our focus if we are to
become the high-performing school district we have
the potential to be. They are:
-
Student Achievement – assess, analyze and
act on effective strategies to accelerate
student achievement and close the achievement
gap
-
District, School, and Classroom Leadership
Support – support dedicated, accountable,
and high performing district and school leaders
-
School Board Collaboration – develop
trusting, cohesive working relations with the
Christina School Board
-
Family and Community Engagement – engage
and mobilize parents and community leaders in
the pursuit of excellence for every student
-
Operational and Financial Strength –
Ensure continued improvement in Christina’s
operational and financial systems
My
presentation provides some important data
about student achievement and achievement gaps
between groups of students, and provides background
information about the other key areas related to my
objectives.
As everyone who
has gotten to know me these past three months can
attest, I believe that you cannot have excellence
without equity, and it will be a major goal of our
District to generate an aggressive agenda for both
excellence and equity. If we are to accelerate
student achievement while closing the achievement
gap, we must:
- Define excellence
- Make decisions based on data
- Align the curriculum
- Use research-based practices
- Improve instruction for special-needs
students and English language learners
- Share ideas among schools
- Strengthen communications efforts
- Support our schools and our core business of
teaching and learning
- Support principals
- Provide professional development
opportunities
- Improve struggling schools
Each of these key areas is
discussed in my document, with suggestions for how
we can sustain effective initiatives and introduce
fresh approaches and strategies. The District will
begin a Strategic Planning process in late November,
which will provide a vehicle for the community to
focus its ideas and energies on achieving excellence
and equity for all students.
I invite you to read and print
my presentation to the Board and contact me with any
comments or suggestions. I hope that parents and
members of the community will get involved in the
Strategic Planning process. I will continue to
listen, learn, and lead in the months ahead, as we
chart an ambitious course for future greatness in
Christina.
Click here to access Dr. Lyles’ Presentation,
“Superintendent’s First 100 Days: Listen, Learn,
Lead”
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