Review Commends School District for Fiscal Responsibility, Clear Vision

According to the school accredidation firm AdvancED, when it comes to fiscal responsibility and character education, is on the right track to success.

AdvancED's report comes as the district emerges from a several months-long assessment process called a Quality Assurance Review (QAR). The QAR evaluates a school district's adherence to certain standards and policies, assesses improvement methods and identifies areas where districts can improve.

Led by Paul DeAngelis, assistant superintendent for educational services, Birmingham Schools helped orchestrate the multimonth assessment process, which involved interviews with administrators, teachers, support staff, parents and students. In addition, a team from AdvancED visited six schools within the district in December, observing classrooms and reviewing student performance data.

In total, the AdvancED team commended Birmingham Public Schools for:

• A high degree of fiscal responsibility: "During interviews, parents, board members, and other stakeholders expressed a high degree of confidence in the fiscal management and proactive use of funding within the district," the report reads.
• Fostering effective relationships: According to the report, "District stakeholders overwhelmingly offered praise and affirmation regarding the openness with which district and school level staff communicate with parents and (the) community."
• The district's character education program: The report notes that the district has six National Schools of Character, one National Profiles in Character, two National Honorable Mention Schools of Character, seven State Schools of Character and 40 Promising Practice awards.
• Clearly articulating the district's mission and vision: As noted in the report, "Clear understanding and articulation of the district's vision allows the district to establish and communicate shared purpose and direction for improving the performance of students and the effectiveness of the system."
• Board members are committed to long-term planning: "The school board trusts district leadership to effectively operate the district while the board establishes policy," the report states.

Meanwhile, the report gave Birmingham Public Schools three areas in which to improve, requiring the district to:

• Develop a districtwide plan for implementing Common Core standards: "Although the district is in the process of developing updated curriculum guides and curriculum maps, there is currently not a curriculum map related to Common Core Standards across the district for use in each subject area and grade level," the report states.
• Establish a process determining the effectiveness of Professional Learning Communities and "21st-century teaching and learning": "In the absence of a clearly defined plan with measures to evaluate program effectiveness, it is not possible to document results and use them to inform future improvement efforts," the report says.
• Develop a process to develop assessment literacy for staff: According to the report, "The process should include professional development that builds the capacity of teachers and district level staff to ... analyze data to inform instructional decision-making."

Superintendent David Larson noted that the areas in which the district needs to improve was important constructive criticism.

"We recognized these areas and will continue to build our systems," he said at the Tuesday night meeting of the Birmingham Board of Education.

A full report of the QAR can be found on the district's website.