Last year, Duval County Public
Schools (DCPS) launched a formal
strategic plan that we believe will make DCPS the
top performing urban school district in America. The
plan was created jointly by the
School Board
and a blue ribbon panel of business, parent, non-profit,
and school representatives. The objectives include
rigorous targets outlining the dramatic progress we
expect.
We have completed one school year
since our Strategic Plan was implemented and have seen
positive measurable progress in our schools. The results
also identified areas in need of additional focus.
The first goal of the Strategic
Plan is to increase academic achievement for all
students. We saw progress in all four categories of
Reading, Math, Writing and Science. Of the 22 areas used
by the state to determine school and district grades, we
increased in 15, stayed the same in 4 and decreased in
3, thus maintaining our district grade of “B.” The
number of students taking rigorous courses also exceeded
the goal. However, we still need to improve the
performance gap in Reading, which remains our highest
priority.
Goal Two of the Strategic Plan is
to increase the percentage of students graduating ready
for post-secondary education and work. Smaller Learning
Communities are fostering relationships within our high
schools, along with Career Academies, which integrate
academic and career-related curriculum. This approach
has had a positive impact on school performance,
including course credits and grades. Attendance has
improved dramatically, with the number of students
missing 20 or more days being reduced from 17,000 to
12,000 over the last two years. The State of Florida
will release graduation rate information later this
fall, so results on successes are not yet available.
Teachers and principals are our
most important employees and are the focus of Goal
Three. We are continuously providing professional
development opportunities to ensure that all of our
schools have high-performing staff. These include
increasing the number of teachers who have completed the
transition to teaching program, while decreasing the
number of teachers who are teaching out of field. A
special focus this year is on improving our Turnaround
Schools by placing quality teachers and principals there
and providing greater professional development and
coaching support.
Goal Four focuses on establishing
safe schools where all individuals feel safe and are
respected and valued. Our code of conduct violations, as
measured by the state, have decreased significantly over
the past year. An increased focus on student behavior
and additional staff training on working with students
who are involved in disciplinary problems has helped us
achieve our objective. A focus of this goal moving
forward will be to also improve the perception of the
safety of our schools.
Aligned with Goal Five, the
district has been focused on working with our parents
and community partners during the past year through
business partnerships, mentoring and volunteers. Nearly
75% of our schools have been recognized this year with
awards for community involvement in education.
District support of schools is the
objective of Goal Six. The district has made it easier
for principals to focus on the education of the students
in Duval County by increasing student access to
computers, implementing an electronic
Gradebook and closely managing the budgets, thereby
reducing district costs and increasing the percentage of
money in the classroom from 81% to 84%.
Overall, we have made positive
progress on 78% of our objectives. The Strategic Plan
will continue to help us assess the effectiveness of our
initiatives and actions and provides the School Board
and me with a better understanding of how we should move
forward.
We are committed to success, and it
is our intent to make clear and measurable progress
every year toward our long-term objectives. Through the
commitment of our students, the dedication of our
teachers and the support of the public, we strongly
believe that together we will be successful.
