June 17, 2008
Investments Designed to Raise Student Achievement by Providing Critical Decision-Making Data Needed to Drive Improvement
Board of Education Chair Verjeana M. Jacobs, Esq. and Superintendent of Schools Dr. John E. Deasy were joined by officials from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation today to announce the award of grants totaling $6 million that will support the transformation to a “Performance Management” culture in Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS).
“The Board of Education truly appreciates this investment in the future of our students, and we are extremely proud to have the confidence and support of two nationally respected foundations,” Jacobs said. “Because of their investments, our school system will develop a new way of doing business that empowers employees to make the best decisions for children while using new tools and better information to make our entire school system more efficient and effective.”
The grants total $4 million from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and $2 million from the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation. The support will allow PGCPS to implement a new Performance Management system – a process used by organizations to regularly assess organizational effectiveness and progress toward predetermined goals and to reward or discontinue certain practices or strategies based on quantified outcomes. The new approach will drive program and staff accountability in every school and all central offices.
“We are moving the system from a ‘compliance culture’ to a true ‘performance culture,’ where all participants continuously assess and improve their contribution to the goal of student achievement,” Deasy said. “Performance Management is not a new initiative, but a way to focus our existing work, energy, and resources on activities that will yield the highest value for students, like empowering employees with information they need to make the best decisions for children.”
Performance Management will make a significant contribution to the Board of Education’s new “Managed Performance Empowerment Theory of Action” by increasing the use of information and data at all levels in the organization to drive decisions. Performance Management is an operating procedure that will:
• Empower employees to improve student, teacher, school, and staff performance by giving staff meaningful, predictive and timely data related to grades, attendance, and other information from a centralized data warehouse built with grant support;
• Use data to reward employees based on performance through the new Financial Incentives and Rewards for Supervisors and Teachers (FIRST) program;
• Enable school leaders to earn more autonomy coupled with accountability for results; and
• Create clarity and transparency for students, parents, teachers, principals, and county taxpayers about district and school performance.
“We are honored to be working with PGCPS to support their district transformation and student achievement goals,” said Joe Siedlecki of the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. “By taking a new approach to how information is used in the district and the classroom, teachers and administrators can take action based on what’s working and what’s not working to influence student achievement and graduation rates before the child fails a grade level. PGCPS and the Board of Education have an extraordinary level of commitment that makes us confident that they will deliver on their vision for the district and its students.”
The financial commitments from the foundations will allow the district to develop the processes and tools needed for Performance Management. Ultimately, the district will be able to do the following:
• Provide meaningful information, including each student’s academic growth, attendance, and other data that teachers and administrators can use to guide instruction and improve student achievement;
• Make student performance data available to teachers electronically, linked to instructional supports and strategies; and
• Provide decision-making data to central administrative departments, including food services, human resources, and transportation, to enhance their efficiency and effectiveness in supporting overall system-wide performance goals.
“We are proud to support Prince George’s County Public Schools as one of the first school districts in the nation to strategically focus all of its offices and all of its resources on the core goal of improving the delivery of teaching and learning,” said Eli Broad, the founder of the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation. “Prince George’s County students will be well-served by Superintendent Deasy’s and the Board of Education’s commitment to raising district performance.”
Nine schools have begun to adopt Performance Management as they prepare for the next school year (2008-2009):
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SCHOOL
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REGION
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SCHOOL
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REGION
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Fairmont Heights HS
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HS Consortium
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Bowie HS
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HS Consortium
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Ft. Washington Forest ES
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Region 1
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William Wirt MS
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Region 2
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Suitland ES
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Region 3
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Morningside ES
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Region 3
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H. Winship Wheatley ECC
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Region 3
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Samuel Ogle MS
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Region 4
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Columbia Park ES
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Region 5
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About Prince George’s County Public Schools
Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) is Maryland’s second largest school system and the nation’s 18th largest district, providing more than 131,000 children an innovative, technology-infused curriculum, which has produced improved test scores in reading and mathematics on the Maryland School Assessments (MSA) for four consecutive years – reaching the highest achievement levels in the system since 2003. Additionally, PGCPS provides a wide range of Enrichment and Specialty programs, extended learning opportunities, and support for special needs students, creating an environment in which all students are able to obtain a quality education. This diverse, urban school system serves children from 148 countries, speaking 140 different languages. More than 85,000 students are transported safely to and from school each day, and nutritious meals are prepared for more than 75,000 children daily.
About the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation
The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation (www.msdf.org) is dedicated to improving the lives of children living in urban poverty around the world. With offices in Austin, TX and New Delhi, India, the Dell family foundation funds programs that foster high-quality public education and childhood health, and improve the economic stability of families living in poverty. With an endowment of $1.3 billion, the foundation has committed almost $450 million to global children’s issues and community initiatives to date.
About the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation
The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation is a national venture philanthropy established by entrepreneur and philanthropist Eli Broad to advance entrepreneurship for the public good in education, science and the arts. The Broad Foundation's education work is focused on dramatically improving urban K-12 public education through better governance, management, labor relations and competition. The Broad Foundation's Internet address is www.broadfoundation.org.