After hearing about how discouraged some teachers feel from a recent survey, I thought I would turn to some success stories. You can find these and other stories of sustainable school success by following the link below to the HOPE Foundation web site.

Here is a success story and a list of accomplishments from a school in Fort Wayne, Indiana - near my old stomping grounds.

Accomplishments:

Achievement gaps closing: Our 69-point achievement gap is history. FWCS is the first school in Fort Wayne Community Schools to achieve a 4-star rating under No Child Left Behind.

 
Positive school culture: We’ve gone from top-down rule-making and “sit-and-get” training days to true peer collaboration. Our teacher leaders set rigorous standards for themselves and their peers that exceed anything district leaders could have imposed from above.
Sustainable change: We’ve sustained our improvements. In fact, after seven years the principal left and the school had to endure three different principals during a single school year. Still, 99% of the Kindergarten students met benchmark on DIBELS, teachers continued to read research, collect data, and collaborate toward shared goals.

 
Continuous professional development for site-based expertise: FWCS colleagues up and down the administrative ladder have joined together to attend many HOPE Foundation institutes and summits. We gained knowledge, tools, and inspiration from Michael Fullan, Andy Hargreaves, Steven Edwards, Kati Haycock, and others, proving the power of shared leadership working toward moral purpose.

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