Superstars in Education Awards Dinner
May 3, 2010
Wilmington, Delaware
Jim Wolfe, President & CEO
Here in Delaware, we have nearly 150,000 students in grades K through 12. Once they enter the workforce, we see first-hand every day how these new employees build upon what they learned in school to grow and help our companies and our nation succeed.
That’s why the business community is so concerned about and involved in education in Delaware. From the Chamber’s Superstars in Education program, to the Delaware Business Roundtable’s Education Committee, to Vision 2015, we all understand that we’ve got to work as one to ensure Delaware’s students enter the workforce ready to tackle the challenges ahead.
I’m proud of Delaware’s business community and its involvement in education. I’m also proud of tonight’s winners and the work they have done to raise student achievement. Congratulations to you all.
The announcement just a month ago about Delaware’s selection as one of only two states that received Race to the Top funding was incredible, wasn’t it? One of only two states. This is a significant achievement for Delaware, one that goes hand in hand with the Chamber’s commitment to world-class schools and the vitality of our business community. Schools and economic development are intrinsically linked.
Our collective work to improve our schools over the last two decades helped get us to this point, and the work of Vision 2015 over the past four years added a very fast “on-ramp” to the path we are on. Now, with the Governor’s new education plan and the state’s Race to the Top success, we have the green light – and the resources – we’ve needed for so long. Speaking for the Chamber, I am gratified by our collective accomplishment and the collaboration that has brought
us to this point.
Most importantly, the work that is going on in our schools and our classrooms – which we celebrate tonight – provided an impressive, highly credible argument about why Delaware should win Race to the Top. Everyone here should be very proud.
Tonight I will congratulate all of our Superstars, and I will do so in greater detail later on. Yet before that, I want to highlight other work in education reform in which the Chamber is involved. We are just as proud of these efforts. And they are reaching into almost every part of the state.
Our Principal for a Day program, as most of you know, puts business leaders into our schools every fall. We had a record turnout this past November with 157 business leaders and schools participating.
And, then, there is the work of 25 Vision Network schools – both district and charter. They are engaged in changing the culture of their schools and changing the way they make decisions about time and resources so they meet the specific needs of the students they enroll. Changing the way they lead their schools, so that “leadership teams” of administrators and teachers have a voice in the decisions that are made. And changing the way they use student data to tailor and improve classroom instruction.
These Vision Network schools are in all three counties, north to south.
The independent evaluator for the Vision Network has deemed it “unique in the nation” and many of the participants have credited it as “the best professional development ever received.”
What sets the Vision Network apart is its unyielding focus on data as a means for determining how well students are learning and how well the decisions that school leaders and classroom teachers make are supporting student learning.
More specifically:
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Each school focuses on a specific instructional need, identified as being most important to meeting that school’s achievement goals. That could be math, reading, writing, critical thinking, etc.
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When you walk in to a Vision Network school you will see that school’s focus in the hall and in the classrooms; it is attached to emails, on the school’s newsletter, on the walls, and on voice mail.
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Performance data and interim assessments are posted in the classrooms, in the halls, and as you enter the building, so all can see the progress the school is making.
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Vision Network principals have been increasing their time in the classroom and teachers are sharing best practices through walkthroughs and collaboration.
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Teachers are now part of planning and decision making.
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Resources have been realigned to increase collaboration time and to focus on the instructional needs of the students.
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District staffs are engaged in supporting and providing service to the schools so that principals and teachers can focus on the needs of the students.
Network schools are not about a program, but about changing the culture of how we deliver quality instruction to their students. This is a process, not an event, and all the districts and charters have committed to making this work a success. This is about looking at changing the system from the statehouse, to the district office, to the schoolhouse.
The work of the Vision Network is reflected in the goals of Governor Markell's Strategic Plan and in the major commitments of Race to the Top.