By Nan Cooper / Staff

On Thursday, the Fulton County School Board members met with Dr. Cindy Loe, Superintendent, for the first day of a two-day retreat. The goal? To produce a “Theory of Action for Change.” Hey, wait — that sounds like something the executives of a big corporation, not a school district, would be doing, inasmuch as they’re run by entrenched bureaucrats and all. So, what’s up?

FULTON’S EDUCATION CORPORATION

With a fiscal 2010 general fund budget of $856,442,124 and a capital budget of more than $275,000, the Fulton County School System (FCSS) is almost big enough to be on Fortune’s list of the country’s top 1,000 companies. Education is big business these days, and in Fulton County the school board is taking care of business.

Last year the board refined its Mission Statement, Vision, Core Beliefs, and created its Value Statements. These activities — the same ones being undertaken at top corporations around the world — are necessary first steps in aligning priorities, goals, and work processes to achieve successful and consistent outcomes.

Nancy Broner, Governance Solutions Trainer with CRSS (Center for Reform of School Systems), facilitated this year’s retreat. Using the book “What School Boards Can Do” by Donald McAdams, she  hopes to guide the Fulton County School Board into the development of its own Theory of Action policy. Once developed and communicated to all stakeholders, says Broner, “this policy will be used to effectuate the board’s core beliefs and commitments.” The Theory of Action statement will drive policy and structure for district redesign.

IS CHANGE BEING MADE QUICKLY ENOUGH?

Just like a business must ask, the school board is asking itself, “Is incremental change good enough, or are we determined to change as fast as possible?”

As an example of incremental change, Broner cited a school district in Florida that was successfully reducing the achievement gap at a rate of 2 to 4 percent per year. While that sounds reasonable, once plotted out, they found that they would not close the gap for 68 years. They needed change and needed it fast.

In Fulton County, a key measure is Adequate Yearly Progress, more commonly referred to as AYP. It is derived from a federal law that requires all public schools to reach specific goals on math and English tests. These goals continue moving up each year until all students meet or exceed standards for their current grade. If just one subsection of the student population fails to make AYP, then the school fails.

Last July, 113 metro area schools and 11 in Fulton County, did not make AYP. If a school does not make AYP for two years in a row, it is considered a “needs improvement” school and is subject to being run by the state Department of Education.

SPEEDING THINGS UP

In order to make change happen faster, the FCSS will be using one of the five comprehensive Theories of Action:

Managed Instruction

Performance-based Empowerment

Managed Performance/Empowerment

Charter District

Diverse Provider District

The board’s plan is to build on what it has already developed in order to see its vision implemented — that is, to see all students learning to their full potential.

Email: Nan@beaconcast.com