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DRAFT Agenda and Directions
April 24,
2017 – The Georgia
Department of Education and the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education
will co-host a Solutions Summit to address the challenges faced by chronically
underperforming schools on Friday, May 5, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Floyd
Room of the Sloppy Floyd Building (driving and parking directions
attached).
The summit will
bring together stakeholders from all invested groups – members of the
education, business, policymakers and faith communities, as well as families –
to have candid conversations about the issues these schools face and develop a
shared framework for improvement.
“There is no
simple, one-step solution for every school that’s struggling to improve student
achievement,” Superintendent Woods said. “We must look at a holistic approach
to educating students in underperforming schools, and that must include the
communities. More than identifying just the problems, we must develop real
actionable solutions that engage stakeholders around the common challenges
facing these schools.”
Dr. Steve
Dolinger, president of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education,
reinforced Woods’ comments. “The summit presents a unique opportunity to
do more than talk about problems many of our schools face. We must move past
talking to action,” he stressed. “Key education, business, community and
government leaders will have the chance to leverage their collective will to
make a collective impact.”
The summit will
include an overview of efforts to support chronically underperforming schools,
along with panel discussions on the opportunities and challenges facing
districts, communities, and state agencies as they work to provide that
support. There will be comprehensive data available for chronically
underperforming schools, allowing attendees to examine and discuss student
achievement, school climate, demographics, turnover rates, discipline rates,
attendance, and other related community data.
These
discussions will be followed by a time of candid conversations and
brainstorming, and an opportunity for attendees to commit to an action
framework to support underperforming schools.
The summit will
be co-chaired by Dr. Mary Sue Murray, a retired State Board of Education member
with more than 30 years of education experience, and Stephanie Johnson,
principal of Maynard Jackson High School and a 2017 National Principal of the
Year finalist.
Dr. Mary Sue
Murray
Dr. Murray
served for thirteen years on Georgia’s State Board of Education. Prior to that,
she taught second, third, and sixth grades in Georgia’s public schools, and
later served in the roles of assistant principal, curriculum director, language
arts specialist, staff development director, personnel director, and assistant
superintendent. She has taught graduate-level courses at the University of West
Georgia and Piedmont College and has served as a Southern Association of
Colleges and Schools (SACS) consultant and chairperson for multiple schools in
Georgia. Seeing a need for educators to meet on a regular basis to discuss
curriculum, she was instrumental in the founding of Metro Area Instructional
Leaders (MAIL). Dr. Murray holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education
from Shorter College, a masters in English education from the University of
Georgia, an educational specialist’s degree in administration supervision from
West Georgia College, and a Ph.D. from Georgia State University.
Stephanie
Johnson
Stephanie
Johnson, Ed.S., led the turnarounds of Sequoyah Middle School and Jonesboro
High School, and currently serves as the turnaround principal of Maynard
Jackson High School in Atlanta. Prior to that, she served as an assistant
principal on Morrow High School’s turnaround team, a secondary language arts
teacher, and a counselor. She has been recognized for leadership that promotes
equity and access for schools and communities and has resulted in large
increases in graduation rates, student performance on standardized exams, and
college admission rates, while closing the achievement gap for students in
at-risk subgroup populations. She is the 2016 Georgia Principal of the Year and
was a top-three finalist for National Principal of the Year. She is an active
member of the Board of Directors for the Georgia Association of Secondary
School Principals and Georgia State University’s Principal’s Center.