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sidebar: The Infrastructure of Innovation: Jefferson County's Staff Development Academy
Type: Old Horace (vol 5-17), Example from Schools
Author(s): Kathleen Cushman
Source: Horace. Vol. 7, #5. June 1991.
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How does a district
foster change and
growth across its
entire public school
system, not just
in a few "special"
schools, or with
a few extraordinary
individuals? Jefferson
County decided a
decade ago that the
answer lay in linking
school improvement
explicitly to the
professional growth
of teachers, administrators,
and support staff.
With the help of
a $600,000 grant
from the local Gheens
Foundation, the district
established a Professional
Development Academy
which since 1983
has become the heart
of Jefferson County's
system. The chief
objective of the
JCPS/Gheens Academy,
as it is known, was
to foster a culture
of innovation and
entrepreneurship
that would permeate
every school, and
to provide an infrastructure
to support such change.
Forging links with
the Coalition of
Essential Schools
was only one step
the Academy took
toward that end.
In addition, it encouraged
schools to become
"professional development
schools," early examples
of school-based participatory
planning. It set
up a system of "learning
choice schools,"
which target certain
curriculum areas
(such as mathematics
or technology) for
special emphasis.
And it urged middle
schools to enter
on the pioneering
national Middle Grades
Assessment Program.
As well as linking
Jefferson County
to these national
efforts, the JCPS/Gheens
Academy provided
technical assistance
and services to anyone
in the district who
could use it, including
private and parochial
school teachers,
university faculty,
and student teachers.
An education library,
a curriculum resource
center, a special
education materials
center, a computer
education support
unit, and a grants
assistance office
are some of the resources
available through
the Academy.
A key focus of the
Academy is on working
with principals and
other administrators.
Its "leadership academy"
aims both to provide
development and support
for current principals
and to identify and
educate potential
principals in matters
from teaching to
organizational effectiveness.
Gheens has sponsored
teacher study groups,
travel grants, mentorships
for beginning teachers,
and many other short-term
projects. "A school
system works in three
ways: maintenance,
incremental improvement,
and innovation,"
says Terry Brooks,
its director. "Our
job is innovation."
Brooks calls the $400,000
annual commitment
of Gheens Foundation
money "venture capital,"
small in proportion
to Jefferson County's
$380 million annual
budget (which contributes
88 percent of the
Academy's cost).
But it is money that
helps leverage other
direct and indirect
support for the school
system, through business
partnerships and
other foundations.
In the meantime,
Gheens is busy monitoring
and evaluating its
own work, hoping
that results will
show that private
funds can help substantially--not
to accomplish a "quick
fix" of a troubled
school system, but
to build a stable
and continuing infrastructure
to support long-term
change.
This resource last updated: May 14, 2002
Database Information:
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Source: Horace. Vol. 7, #5. June 1991.
Publication Year: 1991
Publisher: CES National
Type: Horace Sidebar, Example from Schools
School Level: All
Issue: 7.5
Focus Area: School Design
STRAND: School Design: teacher collaboration & learning
Teacher Collaboration and Learning: Peer Coaching, Critical Friends Groups, Looking at Student Work
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