Caulk’s ‘partnership zone’ plan aims to raise achievement at Bryan Station, feeder schools

In May, before Terry Holliday retired as Kentucky’s education commissioner, he put Fayette County Public Schools on notice to raise academic achievement and to hire a superintendent who would focus on equity in leading the turnaround.

The district’s response is still in its initial stages, but one example was evident this month at Deep Springs Elementary School.

Michelle Tudor, a Fayette County instructional coach from central office, was taking students through a writing workshop. She said she was showing teachers “how to get students thinking about ideas of what they could write.”

Tudor was carrying out Superintendent Manny Caulk’s new partnership zone plan. It aims to raise student achievement at the elementary and middle schools that feed into Bryan Station High School and at Bryan Station High as well.

“We have already seen a tremendous impact,” said Deep Springs principal Adam Kirk. “We’re all kind of fighting the same battles in getting our kids to proficiency.”

For two years in a row, a diagnostic review from the state Department of Education said the district was not providing enough support to Bryan Station High. Until recently the school was classified as a priority or persistently low-achieving school.

Academic achievement has improved at Bryan Station, but it is classified as “needs improvement” rather than proficient. In 2014-15, Bryan Station High scored 65.5 out of 100 in Kentucky’s accountability system, the lowest of Fayette County’s five traditional public high schools.

Marlene Helm, the district’s acting senior director of academic services, said at a recent school board meeting that the district was facing another diagnostic review in March. In preparation, officials are documenting what they are doing to raise student achievement.

Caulk, who was hired last summer, said he had planned all along to implement the partnership zone concept as part of his entry plan. He said the concept worked when he was a principal at a low-achieving school.

But the partnership zone program also satisfied what the state had been asking for: systemic changes to raise student achievement at Bryan Station High and other schools.

James McMillin, principal of Bryan Station High School, said the partnership zone “is allowing us to share resources.”

Principals and teachers are trying to “systematically fill those gaps” that students are coming to high school with, McMillin said.

In May, Holliday said in a letter to the Fayette County School Board chairman that district support was critical if low-performing schools were to improve and if achievement gaps between disabled, low income and minority students and others were to close.

He said the new superintendent, whom the district was in the process of hiring, needed to be aware that the district had not been providing enough support to low-achieving schools and that the new leader should be focused on equity issues.

The partnership zone plan, Caulk said, is “something I’ve done pretty much everywhere I’ve been.”

The concept is getting the elementary, middle and high school serving the same neighborhoods and families to work more collaboratively. Central office teams are visiting the schools to collect data, meet twice a month to monitor progress and solve problems, and provide training for staff.

“It’s really about school management and how we redefine our relationship with schools,” Caulk said.

The eight partnership zone schools, which are receiving help from district teams, were chosen based on test scores, the number of students classified as novice learners, and the fact that they were in a feeder pattern to Bryan Station High School. They are Northern, Deep Springs, William Wells Brown and Mary Todd elementary schools; Bryan Station, Crawford and Winburn middle schools; and Bryan Station High School.

So-called Point of Contact Schools, which are getting less intervention but considerable help, are Harrison, Yates, Russell Cave, Cardinal Valley, Booker T. Washington, Millcreek, Arlington, Meadowthorpe, James Lane Allen and Tates Creek elementary schools; and Tates Creek, Leestown and Lexington Traditional Magnet middle schools.

“For the first time in my seven years, I feel like that we’ve really put an intentional focus on” getting students to proficiency, Kirk, the Deep Springs principal, said. “Michelle Tudor coming in from the district to support us has really not only helped our staff, it’s helped our” students as well.

“From a leadership perspective, it’s great to meet intentionally with the other principals, to bounce ideas off of them, because a lot of times they will have solutions for some of the same problems that we have,” Kirk said. “We’re very excited ... to see the impact it’s going to have on our academics” and test scores.

“It’s just one piece of a strategy,” said Caulk. “There will be more ... when I deliver my entry plan.”

He thinks that will happen in April after consultants conduct audits of various aspect of the district.

Within a few days of starting to work in Lexington, Caulk installed new leadership teams at several schools, including Bryan Station High School. Next, he wants to work with the state Department of Education to see how he can intervene further at low-achieving schools.

“The principals are ... working together. They were hungry for this. They have support from central office,” he said. “Our leaders our empowered.”

Vicki Ritchie, director of school improvement and innovation for Fayette County, said principals are encouraged to learn from one another and from school leaders out of district, out of state and even internationally.

The school staffs in the partnership zone are learning how to assess their test scores and other data about the school. Each is approaching the improvements they need to make a little differently, she said.

Reducing novice learners

After Holliday wrote to the district in May, he put Fayette County and other districts in a pilot program to reduce the number of children who are classified as novice in the state’s accountability system.

Nancy Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the Kentucky Department of Education, said over a period from May to December, the department helped Fayette County create a system to reduce the number of novice students and increase overall student achievement.

Helm said the work involves helping each individual student improve. The state staff helped Fayette County with the development of 30-, 60- and 90-day novice reduction plans and with school and district improvement plans.

“The Kentucky Department of Education has been a great partner,” Caulk said.

While Fayette County’s status in the state’s accountability system has improved from needs improvement to proficient, district officials say the number of novice learners is still too high.

Rodriguez said state education officials are encouraging Fayette County’s staff to continue the novice reduction work on their own.

Caulk said he and other district officials are thankful to Holliday “for that letter and for reminding us of what’s most important, and that’s student success.”

This story was originally published February 28, 2016 at 6:33 PM with the headline "Caulk’s ‘partnership zone’ plan aims to raise achievement at Bryan Station, feeder schools."