CONclusion
Hamblen County Schools is a district committed
to academic excellence. As demands for academic performance and rigorous instruction have
increased, Hamblen’s leaders have proactively
engaged in capacity building efforts and strategic
planning to ensure that their academic expectations
keep apace and that their support mechanisms
encourage and promote continuous improvement
for teachers and students alike.
Through their “no excuses” culture, the district
expects excellence from all its educators. To help
them rise to this challenge, Hamblen finds myriad
ways to nurture its employees, providing instructional tools, professional development, coaching,
and mentoring so that everyone can become
successful in their work. As part of its commitment
to high standards, the district has helped teachers
effectively implement the Common Core State
Standards by providing professional development,
coaching, and peer support through district specialists. Additionally, rubrics have been developed
to help teachers with planning and self-evaluation,
and administrators provide frequent feedback
through classroom walkthroughs to help teachers
improve instructional rigor and realign their teaching
to the Common Core.
Multiple programs and initiatives have also been
put in place to help students become college and
career ready. The district partners with tnAchieves
to provide scholarships and mentoring programs for
first generation college students; participates in the
Northeast College and Career Ready Consortium
to expand dual enrollment, Advanced Placement,
and other college preparatory opportunities for
students; sponsors an ACT preparatory program to
help students perform better on the exam; implements an advisory program for all high school
students; and helps all middle school students become familiar with graduation and college acceptance requirements.
Any student who is not on track for graduation or
who has not mastered standards is provided with
interventions tailored to meet his or her needs. To
improve the graduation rate, the district provides
freshmen academies, skills for success courses,
graduation coaches, and credit recovery opportunities. The district also coordinates a series of
interventions to help English language learners and
students with disabilities learn within the regular
classroom environment. The district’s International
Center for Newcomers helps newly arrived students
from other countries learn content in multiple subject areas at the same time they learn English.
The district invests heavily in its leaders to ensure
that all schools are in capable hands. Hamblen
County stresses both skill and passion in its leaders, along with an unwavering focus on student
achievement. Coaches and mentors provide all
leaders with individualized support as needed. In
addition, a common culture is nurtured by having all
leaders engage in common book study.
Teachers are provided with multiple effective
instructional tools to help them plan and implement
instruction, including the Essential Strategies Handbook. Through professional development, teachers
learn expectations, share effective instructional
practices, and engage in collaborative problem
solving.
Data are routinely analyzed to track student progress and identify opportunities for re-teaching.
The district has trained its leaders and teachers to
analyze data effectively and integrate results from
formative and summative assessment into instructional planning. The data warehouse system serves
as an invaluable tool to provide easily accessible
and useful information. The system data coach is
also in place to support underperforming schools
and to respond to questions and requests from
teachers and administrators.
All these efforts have created an effective infrastructure to support Hamblen County’s mission
to graduate all students prepared for college or
career. Steady, thoughtful leadership and community partnerships have meant that expectations are
clear, understood by all, and supported through
district policies and practices. These actions have
helped place Hamblen County Schools on a trajectory to become among the best in the nation.
Pathways to the Prize
Lessons from the 2012 SCORE Prize District Winner
24