MEDIA
CONTACT: Matt Cardoza,
GaDOE Communications Office, mcardoza@gadoe.org
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January
10, 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, State School Superintendent Richard Woods
announced today.
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 state, regional, and national 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. Partners from GaDOE and GPEE
will present a deep dive into the data of chronically underperforming schools,
examining and discussing student achievement, school climate, demographics,
turnover rates, discipline rates, attendance, and other related community data.
These
discussions will be followed by a time for 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.
More
details on the Solutions Summit will be announced in the coming months. Subscribe to updates
from the Georgia Department of Education to be notified when more
information is available.