4 May 2007
District selected from a pool of 12 applicants nationwide
DALLAS–The Dallas Independent School District is one of six districts selected by the Center for Reform of School Systems to participate in Reform Governance in Action, a comprehensive two-year training program for school boards and superintendents.
Aldine Independent School District, Durham Public Schools, Hartford Public Schools, Prince George's County Public Schools, and Providence Public Schools also were selected from a pool of 12 applicants nationwide. Districts were chosen based on a rigorous review of the quality, unity, and commitment of the school board, the district leadership's focus on improving student achievement, and anticipated leadership stability, among other criteria.
The goal of the RGA program is to dramatically improve student achievement and eliminate the achievement gap in each participating district by cultivating effective reform leadership. Intensive training using original case studies, review of best practices, and analytic tools is conducted at four off-site training institutes and ten on-site consulting visits over the course of the two year program.
The costs of the RGA program – approximately $400,000 per district – are underwritten by the Broad Foundation through a grant to CRSS. The Meadows Foundation, however, has partnered with the Broad Foundation to underwrite the cost for Dallas ISD. By a grant of $320,000 to CRSS, The Meadows Foundation is covering the incremental costs for Dallas ISD.
School boards enrolled in RGA approve and implement policies to improve board meetings, constituent service, and management oversight. They also support the transformation of teaching and learning by codifying the board's core beliefs and commitments, articulating a cogent district theory of action for change, enacting major reform policies, and creating a data dashboard for tracking key indicators of district performance.
This graduate-level program provides a heavy dose of best practices and inspiration to support local leaders in strategically governing to raise student achievement and close ethnic and income achievement gaps," said Don McAdams, founder and president of the Center for Reform of School Systems.
"Too often, efforts to improve student achievement in large urban school districts stagnate because school boards and superintendents are at odds with one another," Said Eli Broad, founder of the The Broad Foundation. "This intensive training helps school district leaders grow into highly functional teams ready to apply key lessons learned from major reform efforts in other U. S. cities to improve student achievement back home."
RGA was developed by the Center for Reform of School Systems, a Houston-based not-for-profit corporation, in partnership with The Broad Foundation.
The Broad Foundation is a Los Angeles-based venture philanthropic organization established in 1999 by Eli and Edythe Broad. The Foundation's mission is to dramatically improve student achievement in urban public schools through better governance, management, labor relations, and competition. The Foundation's major initiatives also include the $1 million Broad Prize, awarded annually to urban school districts that have made the greatest improvement in student achievement; and The Broad Superintendents Academy, a ten-month executive management program to train top traditional and non-traditional candidates to be urban superintendents.
The Meadows Foundation is a private philanthropic institution established in 1948 by Algur H. and Virginia Meadows to benefit the people of Texas. The Foundation's mission is to assist the people and institutions of Texas improve the quality and circumstances of life for themselves and future generations.