MarzanoResources.com/HRSExcellence CHALLENGE As a district, Lee County hires approximately 500−700 new teachers yearly. Many teachers they’ve hired came to the profession as career changers and required ongoing support to increase their instructional capacity. The administration team at Lee also saw several teachers, leaders, and community members expressing the desire to provide input and feedback on the optimal functioning of their school and district. The resulting need to hire and train new teachers and the request for input at several schools led the School District of Lee County to adopt the Marzano High Reliability Schools framework. The administration team hoped to use the framework for school improvement, creating and monitoring common systems across all school buildings for teachers, leaders, parents, and students. IMPLEMENTATION Once the decision had been made to adopt the HRS framework, school leaders engaged in training during fall of the following school year. The training initially started as optional sessions for school leaders and peer collaborative teachers. Sessions took place through in-person and Zoom training during the pandemic years. Training was offered throughout the school year and as a component of summer training for leaders. As engagement and excitement for the learning continued, several schools expressed interest in obtaining Level 1 HRS certification, which focuses on a safe, supportive, and collaborative culture. Through the award of the ESSER grant, Lee County was able to fulfill these requests. Cohort 1 was created at the High Reliability Schools Coaching Academy, which is specially designed professional development that prepares teams of educators to lead their school in mastering all five levels of the Marzano HRS framework, with an emphasis on the first three levels: Safe, Supportive, and Collaborative Culture; Effective Teaching in Every Classroom; and Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum. A cohort consisted of the principal, teacher leaders, and a district representative. The academy consisted of six training days, surveys for students, parents, faculty, and staff, HRS Toolkits, and coaching from a Marzano associate. All ten schools in Cohort 1 achieved Level 1 certification. This momentum sparked interest in other schools, and three additional cohorts were offered. A pathway was then created to allow all schools to engage in the HRS Academy and obtain Level 1 certification. Schools in Lee County that wanted to earn an HRS certification had to survey parents, students, faculty, and staff regarding the eight leading indicators for Level 1, create an action plan to address areas indicating an opportunity and monitor data from the systems implemented on an ongoing basis to obtain certification. While teacher leaders engaged in professional learning with their administrators during the HRS Academy, they expressed interest in learning more about the New Art and Science of Teaching. Teachers in Lee County supported the New Art and Science of Teaching, and attendance at professional development training grew to more than 200 teachers for each evening session. More than 700 teachers received training in the New Art and Science of Teaching. Now, 75 teachers are applying their learning through the High Reliability Teacher process, and out of those, four teachers have recently achieved High Reliability Teacher Level 1 certification. SCHOOL DISTRICT OF LEE COUNTY FORT MYERS, FLORIDA 99,354 STUDENTS / 74.5% FREE OR REDUCED LUNCH / 17.5% ENGLISH LEARNERS / 11.5% SPECIAL NEEDS 46.9% HISPANIC OR LATINO / 34.5% WHITE / 13.6% BLACK / 3.2% MULTIRACIAL / 1.6% ASIAN / 0.1% NATIVE AMERICAN OR PACIFIC ISLANDER . High Reliability Schools framework . High Reliability Schools Coaching Academy . New Art and Science of Teaching EVIDENCE OF EXCELLENCE
