How can we help?

Explore by Role: District Administrator

• Where do I start in improving my district’s literacy scores?

  Gaining buy-in among principals is the most critical first step. Since your success depends upon gaining the commitment of building principals that change is essential, start with the district and building data. Pass out data reports and analyze the most recent year’s scores.
  
  95 Percent Group conducted a meeting in early October with a district where 54% of kindergarten students district-wide enter the year at benchmark and only 59% leave at benchmark; although some schools grew from 30% to 70%, what was even more staggering was that schools where 80% enter show declines to only 60% leaving the year still at benchmark. Identifying gaps is the only way to create a sense of urgency.
  
  Download this document to see an example of how grade level teams can get a big picture view of progress between two time periods.
  
  

• How can I support principals actively serving as a site-based literacy leader?

  Curriculum staff at the district office can play a major role in supporting the development of principals as literacy leaders, a role that is especially important at the elementary school level. Principals who never taught grades K-2 report that they don’t know how to teach reading and therefore feel constrained in serving as a leader for literacy.
  
  District administrators can support principals by identifying their needs, and funding professional development that helps principals become comfortable with the language about literacy, the research base, and recognizing good instruction during observations. Funding a literacy coach is another key way district administrators support principals deepen their knowledge about literacy. 
  
  Download this document to see an example of how grade level teams can get a big picture view of progress between two time periods.
  
  
  

• What are some implementation pitfalls?

  Leading a district-wide literacy improvement is an important undertaking. With 20 years of experience in working with hundreds of districts, 95 Percent Group has observed many successful and unsuccessful implementations. Based on this experience, we’ve assembled a list of the top 10 implementation pitfalls. Download the list….