California Central Valley NIC
California Central Valley Networked Improvement Communities (CVNIC) provide the opportunity to leverage existing partnerships to create a network of participating districts that are interested in working together toward a common aim. Through a networked approach, we utilize improvement science as a framework to understand the problem, change existing systems, and spread knowledge and improvements. Through CVNIC, we are able to take collective action, build capacities, and accelerate learning across sites and districts.
A Networked Improvement Community (NIC) helps us accelerate our effort toward a common goal. Simply put, we are better together.
Networked Improvement Communities at Tulare County Office of Education:
CVNIC Mathematics
Central Valley Networked Improvement Community consists of school districts working together to improve mathematics learning experiences and achievement for students in Tulare County and the Central Valley. Our collaborative work has impacted thousands of students and hundreds of teachers. Our site improvement teams include district leaders, site leaders, academic coaches, and teachers. All site improvement teams are supported by the CVNIC Hub at Tulare County Office of Education. We believe that EVERY student is mathematically brilliant. We will strive to to support your system in creating a culture and environment where students have increased access to high quality mathematics instruction to overcome the learning loss experienced within the last year.
To learn about the history of CVNIC -Mathematics 1.0., see this document.
CVNIC: College-Ready
The Tulare County Office of Education is funded to facilitate a Network for School Improvement (NSI) focused on significantly increasing the number of Black, Latinx, and low-income students who are College-Ready On-Track as determined by acceptance into a four-year university, with a six-year graduation rate of 50% or higher. There are currently 14 schools and four counties participating in CVNIC: College-Ready, including Tulare, Fresno, Merced, and Madera counties.
Theory of Practice Improvement
Our Theory of Practice Improvement identifies the key levers, where these will occur in our systems, and specific change ideas that we believe will be necessary to reach our aim of improving mathematical mindsets and increasing achievement outcomes for our students. We are building this Theory of Practice Improvement collectively and changing it as we learn what impacts student mindsets and achievement.
Our Latest Research
In July 2020, our team conducted in-depth analysis and created a report for California Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE) about CVNIC’s collaborative approach to transforming mathematical mindsets, while illuminating specific classroom practices that lead to improved mathematical mindsets for students. The three major concepts of mindset that emerged were that mistakes are valuable, the power of yet, and the importance of struggle and perseverance, and has created two mindset briefs designed to inform schools and teachers about how to positively impact mathematical mindset. Please see our page on culture and mindset to view these briefs.
CVNIC 2.0 members do math together at the kick-off meeting in September.
