Continuous School Improvement Network

In SY 2016-2017 the Pacific East District embarked on the transformation from a system of schools to a school system. We used the process of preparing for our first systems accreditation as the catalyst to discover who we were as a system in order to plan our path forward. In the fall of 2016, the Pacific East District formally identified its first district goals. In addition, in response to the findings of our Internal Review Visits (IRVs) from SY 2015 - 2016 that indicated there was a pattern of opportunities for growth within communication, the district implemented a group of communication processes.

As part of the process of functioning as a system and preparing for our first systems review, we hosted two week-long continuous improvement summits for continuous school improvement (CSI) chairs and school administrators to initiate moving forward as one system. In the spring of 2017, the Pacific East District proudly hosted our first System Engagement Review.

In addition, the district implemented Focused Collaboration as a structured approach to collaboration. Students were released from school one hour early on one day a week to offer the time for formalized collaboration to occur, and the district introduced a structure to guide collaboration.

In SY 2018-2019, the Pacific East District continued our improvement journey by initiating CSI Networking Sessions and strengthening our goal process and initiating conversations around the SQFs.

In order to continue building continuity throughout the district, the Pacific East District implemented a goal template, in alignment with the Pacific West and Pacific South districts, that was utilized by the district office and all schools. In addition, in the fall of 2018, the Pacific East Assessment and Accountability ISS partnered with the CIL Education Research Analyst to deliver an introductory training at each of the six complexes for CSI Chairs and administrators. The training included the introduction of data protocols, root-case analyses, and SMART goals.

The Pacific East District and all schools in the district engaged stakeholders to complete their first SQF Diagnostics. The process of completing the SQF Diagnostics led to powerful conversations. Due to limitations in being allowed to administer Cognia questionnaires aligned with the SQFs to parents and students, the diagnostics were completed based on the perceptions of the faculty of the school or district.

In spring of 2019, the Pacific East District engaged in IRV for 11 of the 20 Pacific East Schools. The outcomes of the IRV indicated that the areas of greatness need were:

1. 1. Building capacity with Focused Collaboration (91% of schools visited indicated a need)

   2. Continuing to build communication processes (72% of schools visited indicated a need)

   3. Strengthening the goal process (45% of schools visited indicated a need)

The Pacific East District continued our improvement journey by supporting schools in providing quality education to all students in response to COVID-19, building capacity through the implementation of The Pacific East Steering Committee, developing The Pacific East Strategic Plan to align the work of the district in a comprehensible, achievable approach, and enhancing our IRV process.

The Pacific East District is proud that, due to our mitigation efforts, we were able to keep in-person learning occurring the most of all DoDEA districts in spite of many colleagues being reassigned to DoDEA Virtual Schools.

Based on the observations gleaned from SY 2020-2021 IRVs and school visits that suggested that stakeholders were not comprehending how the district initiatives and goals were aligned, the district developed the Pacific East Steering Committee, comprised of representatives from diverse stakeholder groups, to collective frame the continuous-improvement efforts of the district. The first major product from the Pacific East Steering Committee was the creation of the Pacific East Strategic Plan that identifies our 21st-century goal, two measurable objectives of improving student-performance in mathematics and literacy, three strategic themes, and seven Critical Initiative Working Groups.

In addition, the district enhanced our improvement journey in alignment of our One Team, One Visit by;

• Developing defined roles for CSI Chairs across the district

• Adding Data Support Chairs to all schools across the district with defined roles

• Developing the CSI ePortal as a one-stop resource for all CSI, processes, guides, and expectations

• Placing school goals online and adding a monitoring component to the goals

In spring of 2021, the Pacific East District engaged in IRVs for all 20 Pacific East Schools. In order to strengthen our quality assurance review and narrow our focus, the Pacific East identified four Cognia Standards as “Power Standards” (1.3, 2.7, 2.11, 3.2) that are aligned with the overarching work of the district and our Strategic Plan. The outcomes of the IRV indicated that the areas of greatness need were:

1. 1. Making data readily available to educators (100% of schools visited indicated a need)

   2. Implementing a process for collecting, analyzing, monitoring, and using data to impact student learning (100% of schools visited indicated a need)

   3. Strengthening the professional learning structure (75% of schools visited indicated a need)

   4. Increasing stakeholder (students, parents, faculty) in the educational and decision-making process (35% of the schools visited indicated a need)